Akbayan refiles bill protecting students’ rights, welfare
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MANILA, Philippines – Akbayan partylist members on Monday re-filed their Students’ Rights and Welfare bill which legislates the rights of students against unjust tuition increases and suppression of academic freedom in both private and public colleges and universities.
Akbayan Representative Barry Gutierrez in a statement said they refiled the bill to legislate a national policy in ensuring the protection and promotion of students’ rights and welfare across all tertiary institutions.
Gutierrez said students’ rights were violated, especially in private schools which have the mandate to enforce its own academic policies.
This is unlike in state universities and colleges which face more pressure to act on complaints from students because these are regulated by government.
“Right now, we need a law that will uniformly mandate all higher learning institutions, whether private or state universities and colleges (SUCs), to protect and promote the rights and welfare of the students,” Gutierrez said.
“We need a law that sets out clearly all these rights for the students to eliminate any form of policy or implementation gap among schools,” he added.
According to the bill, no tuition hikes will be imposed unless the following standards are followed – posting of tuition increase a year before implementation, holding at least one public meeting with students, and making available the documents of the proposed hike.
“Legislative action is necessary to introduce the following reforms and to strengthen students’ rights and welfare,” the explanatory note of the new bill read.
The salient provisions of the bill, according to Akbayan are: recognition and promotion in campuses of rights and freedoms as enshrined in the Constitution; regulation of tuition and other school fee increases by introducing minimum standards in consultation; penalization of students’ rights violation; strengthening the capacity and power of education agencies in ensuring that students’ rights and welfare are protected and promoted, among others.
Akbayan first filed their version of the bill in the 15th Congress.
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