Ban on field trips sought

MANILA, Philippines - A lawmaker has called on authorities to ban compulsory and distant field trips for the safety of students and to spare parents from costly excursion expenses.

Camiguin Rep. Pedro Romualdo urged the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to implement the ban.

“I don’t see the wisdom of requiring field trips,” he said. “During our time, we did not have field trips, but we managed to learn a lot in school.”

Romualdo, House of Representatives committee on justice vice chairman, said requiring students to travel exposes them to accidents and imposes additional financial burden on parents.

“For example in our province, why should our students need to travel to as far as Cebu when they can just go to Misamis Oriental or Cagayan de Oro?” he asked.

“Choosing faraway destinations only turns students into tourists. What’s the purpose of these field trips?”

Romualdo said when he was governor he was against field trips because of the financial burden they impose on parents.

“I don’t want parents to solicit money to pay for their children’s field trips,” he said.

“Who is earning from these field trips at the expense of students and parents? On the part of students, they are forced to join the field trips otherwise they will flunk in their subject or course.”

He had written DepEd and CHED officials to ban field trips for the welfare of students and parents, Romualdo said.

Last Thursday, seven people, including two students and two teachers of the Marinduque State College, were killed when their bus collided with a 14-wheeler truck along Marcos Highway in Benguet during a field trip.

On Feb. 8, a bus ran over two high school students of Holy Spirit Academy during a field trip at Camp Mateo Capinpin, killing one of them. – Paolo Romero, Jess Diaz