N.B. – This is a statement of the Justice for Kristel Alliance released in time for the UP Board of Regents (BOR) meeting today (June 20).
The Justice for Kristel Alliance
on “The Committee Report on the Review
of Articles 330, 430 and 431”:
Unacceptable
June 20, 2013
The policy statement of the UP Board of Regents is very clear: “No qualified UP student shall be denied access to education due to financial incapacity (April 12, 2013).” It follows that the anti-student provisions of the UP Code must be revoked and replaced particularly Articles 330, 430 and 431.
The UP President created a committee to review these articles as a response to the public indignation over the death of Kristel Tejada. However the President’s instruction to the committee with its emphasis on “the need to ensure integrity, internal control and regulatory compliance in the operation of the University” is disappointing. The subtext of this instruction is that any moves to revoke or revise the anti-student and anti-poor articles should be mindful of existing policies in the University, especially when it comes to matriculation. There is therefore no room for allowing students with outstanding financial obligations to continue enrolling at UP unless they settle their loans within the semester.
The President’s committee’s recommended changes, upon close scrutiny, do nothing to change the anti-student, anti-poor nature of the three articles in the UP Code. Despite the recommended revision to include the phrase “unless authorized by the university registrar in exceptional cases (Art. 431),” the enforcement of exceptions remains arbitrary.
We find the situation of allowing our student’s fate to rest on the “discretion” or “magnanimity” of individual administrators unacceptable. This was what happened to Kristel Tejada. For the University to be truly pro-poor and pro-student, there should be an explicit declaration that students will be allowed to continuously enroll and that they can settle their obligations upon graduation.
That the committee rejected our recommendations to revoke the articles and revise them in such a way that gives more teeth to the BOR policy is unfortunate, especially in the light of the death of a UP Manila freshman student who failed to enroll due to financial incapacity.
Our message to the BOR is very clear: Our recommendations to revoke the current content of Articles 330, 430 and 431 and replace them with substantive amendments are consistent with the spirit and letter of the April 12, 2013 BOR policy that “No qualified UP student shall be denied access to education due to financial incapacity.”
| FROM | TO: (JUSTICE FOR KRISTEL ALLIANCE) | TO: (PRESIDENT’S COMMITTEE) |
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ART. 327 No student shall be denied admission to the University System by reason of age, sex, nationality, religious belief, or political affiliations. |
ART. 327 No student shall be denied admission to the University System by reason of age, sex, nationality, religious belief, political affiliations or financial incapacity. |
ART. 327 No student shall be denied admission to the University System by reason of age, sex, nationality, religious belief, political affiliations or economic status. |
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ART. 330 No person who has not duly matriculated may be admitted to the classes. In exceptional cases, the Dean of Admissions may, on the recommendation of the Dean or Director concerned, authorize the admission of a visitor to a class for not more than five sessions. |
ART. 330 No qualified UP student shall be denied admission to his/her classes on the sole basis of non payment of matriculation fees. |
ART. 330 No person who has not duly matriculated may attend classes. In exceptional cases, the University Registrar may, on the recommendation of the Dean or Director concerned authorize enlistment and attendance to the classes. |
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ART. 430 Students who are indebted to the Student Loan Board, their sureties and parents or guardians shall be notified that such indebtedness must be paid in full one month before the final semestral examinations begin. |
ART. 430 Students who have outstanding loans with the University shall be notified, together with their parents or guardians, that such indebtedness must be paid in full before their diplomas, transcript of records, clearance and other academic credentials are released. Pending the full payment of their outstanding loans, students will be given a certification that they have finished all academic requirements and that their academic credentials will only be released upon settling such loans. |
ART. 430 Students who are indebted to the student loan board, their co-debtors and parents or guardians, shall be notified that such indebtedness must be paid in full before the following registration period. |
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ART. 431 If a student fails to settle his account at the time herein provided, the faculty members should either bar the delinquent student from taking the examinations or, if they allow him to take the examinations, to withhold his grades – that is, instead of indicating the grades, the faculty members should write a note in the “remarks” column “Has account with the Student Loan Board.” If the account is not settled by the opening of the following semester, the student may not be allowed to register. |
ART. 431 A student who fails to settle his or her account within a semester because of financial incapacity as attested to by his/her parent, guardian or professor, shall not be barred from attending his or her classes, nor his or her grades withheld due to non-payment of tuition and other fees. A student with outstanding loans shall be allowed to register in the next semester. |
ART. 431 If a student fails to settle her/his account at the time herein provided, s/he may not be allowed to register the following semester, unless authorized by the University Registrar in exceptional cases |