CHED urged to enforce memo lifting 'no permit, no exam' policy

MANILA, Philippines - The National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) and the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) yesterday urged the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to take action on colleges and universities not implementing its Memorandum 02 for 2010.

The memo orders schools to allow students with arrears to take examinations. CHED issued the memo late last month after the Kabataan party-list filed House Bill 6799, the bill seeking to ban the “no permit, no exam” school policy, in September last year.

The CHED memo was released in time for the mid-term examinations in most colleges and universities, which implement a “no permit, no exam” policy.

But CHED chairman Emmanuel Angeles said the memo was only an appeal that schools could ignore.

Einstein Recedes, NUSP national president, said they have already gathered a number of educational institutions not enforcing the anti-poor policy.

Recedes explained that they were able to come up with a list of complainants from hotline numbers 352-1054 and 0927-751-53-65.

Recedes and CEGP national president Vijae Alquisola said “the onslaught of typhoons late last year and the current economic crunch have made it difficult for many parents and students to afford the rising cost of education.”

“We appeal to CHED to be very strict in implementing the” memorandum, they said.   – Rainier Allan Ronda