THE Department of Education in Central Visayas (DepEd-7) said it cannot intervene on the case involving a high school student who was barred from attending the graduation ceremonies in St. Theresa’s College.
Acting DepEd-7 chief Dr. Carmelita Dulangon said while they can mediate between the girl’s parents and the school, their hands are otherwise tied due to a pending case filed before the court.
Dulangon said she forwarded the mother’s letter-complaint to Cebu City Schools Division Supt. Dr. Rhea Mar Angtud since St. Theresa’s College is under her jurisdiction.
“There should have been due process in order to listen to both sides”, Dulangon said in a radio interview.
STC officials declined to answer Dep-Ed-7’s order to answer the letter, saying the case is now in court.
Dr. Dulangon said the girl’s case marked the first time that a mother wrote a complaint against a private school.
She said private schools have their own manuals or handbooks, containing their rules and regulations.
Dulangon said the manuals or handbooks were known by the students or the parents prior to their enrollment.
The manuals were based on the 2010 Revised Manual of Regulations for Private Schools issued by their agency.
Under the revised manual, Dulangon said the rights and duties of the students are also written.
She said the school handbooks need to be reviewed to find out if these don’t violate the rights of students.
“But we need legal minds to determine and define these regulations,” Dulangon said.
Dulangon said she doesn’t want a repeat on the incident, especially with the coming school year.
“I hope the school and the student find a compromise solution to the problem. The student shouldn’t be denied the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend the graduation ceremonies with her classmates,” she said.
Facebook users who were familiar with the case posted their comments on the the controversy.
One wrote, “In 4th year high school, a lot of the students wore two piece in our Bohol trip organized by STC, we were allowed to do so. Whatever happened to them?.”
Another post read, “The old versus the new…who will survive?”.
A Manila-based Cebuana said it was unfair that the school won’t allow the students to attend the graduation ceremonies for wearing bikinis during an outing.
“The students worked for four years to graduate and the school is upset over one small incident, why is STC interfering?,” she said. With Correspondent Jessa Chrisna Marie J. Agua