Time to reflect

Several private school associations are up in arms against proposals in Congress to pass a law that will prohibit educational institutions from imposing a “no permit, no exam” policy.

The Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (Cocopea) and its member organizations that include Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP), Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU), Philippine Association of Private Schools, Colleges, and Universities (PAPSCU), Association of Christian Schools, Colleges, and Universities (ACSCU), and Unified TVET of the Philippines Inc (UniTVET) have all warned that private schools may ultimately close down if timely collection is impaired and their financial obligations begin to mount.

Last May, the House of Representatives unanimously approved on third and final reading a measure that would prohibit the no permit, no exam policy in private schools.

The bill allows students in private basic educational institutions to take examinations despite unpaid school fees arising from emergencies, force majeure, good cause, and other justifiable reasons. To balance student welfare with the needs of the private schools, it requires the parents or guardians to execute a promissory note prior to the taking of the exams.

As proposed, the deferment of payment should not go beyond the school year, except when allowed by the private basic educational institution. It also allows school authorities to withhold the issuance of appropriate clearance and transfer credentials of elementary and secondary learners with unpaid financial obligations and refuse their enrollment in the next enrollment period until all previous delinquencies are fully paid.

Another House bill covers higher educational institutions both public and private.

There is also a Senate version which covers elementary to tertiary and short-term vocational courses in all educational institutions and also allows students to take their major examinations regardless if they have settled their tuition and other school fees. The Senate bill was also approved on third and final reading last March.

Senate Bill 1359 is awaiting reconciliation with its counterpart House Bill 7584 that covers basic private institutions and House Bill 6483 that covers higher educational institutions both public and private.

In August, news reports revealed that deliberations at the bicameral conference committee are likely to take place soon.

Cocopea has pointed out that banning the no permit, no exam policy could be seen as a compassionate move that protects the interests of students but in reality, the effects would be detrimental.

It said that unlike public schools which are funded by government, private schools rely on timely payments by their students to finance their day-to-day activities.

Cocopea explained that banning the policy would disrupt fee collections, which jeopardizes operational sustainability, timely payment of salaries and wages of school personnel, and school viability.

Cocopea has 3,622 educational and learning institution-members covering more than 1.7 million students in both basic education and higher education levels across the country, according to one news report.

Meanwhile, Davao Association of Catholic Schools (DACS) president Bro. Noelvic Deloria, SC, and DACS advocacy chairperson Fr. Joel Tabora, SJ said that both the pro-student posturing and the declaration of policy contained in the Senate bill are deceptive.

For its part, the ACSCU emphasized that private schools have already been offering varied payment schemes to ensure that students encountering financial issues can still pay their dues.

Certainly, the private schools cannot use the no permit, no exam prohibition if it becomes law as an excuse to default on payments for their operating expenses, including the salaries of teachers and staff, all of whom are in real danger of losing their jobs when private schools are shut down.

A study made by PACU revealed that should the policy become law, tuition collections will only be able to cover operating expenses for two months on the average.

When this happens, what will become of the thousands of teachers and staff that will be unemployed? What will become of the thousands of disenfranchised students that will be displaced? Will our public school system be able to absorb all of them? Will the government or the proponents of this bill be ready to assist students, teachers, and school personnel who will be displaced?

As it stands, our public school system is already burdened by the lack of classrooms. Public schools are already overcrowded.

ACSCU noted that the proposed bills will restrict the ability of schools to continue offering payment schemes and inadvertently limit access to students who are financially challenged to enrol in private schools. This will in turn lead to increased migration of students in public institutions which may worsen the overcrowding and limited capacities in these schools.

It seems that our lawmakers put together the bill in haste and no substantial consultation with the private institutions was conducted. In spite of the various position papers opposing the bill that have been submitted and published, our legislators proceeded with approving the proposed measures. Perhaps they mean well. But such systemic impact should be backed by deep scientific study and data to assure that any devastating repercussions will be avoided.

It has been noted that the bill disregards the contributions of private educational institutions to the education and development of the nation’s human resources. For our educational system to be healthy, there should be complementarity between the public and private education sectors. Approving the no permit, no exam policy will certainly get rid of many private schools.

Our lawmakers may also have wrongly assumed that all private schools are rich and can afford to operate even if tuition payments are not made on time. What they have failed to take into consideration is the fact that many private schools are just starting to recover from the devastating effects of the pandemic on student enrollments. A number of private schools have in fact permanently closed due to low enrollment turnouts.

The different private school organizations pointed out that although this piece of legislation is already for bicameral committee deliberations, it would be beneficial to everyone if our lawmakers take a pause and listen to the stakeholders directly affected by this bill.

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