Kidapawan city council mulls over ban on school yearbooks

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines — The Sangguniang Panlungsod or city council here is tackling a proposed ordinance banning the printing and circulation of yearbooks in both public and private schools because they are an undue financial burden to the parents of students.

Worse, some schools make the yearbook fee a precondition for graduation, according to Vice Mayor Joseph Evangelista, who presides over the council.

Evangelista said many parents have difficulty sending their children to school and shelling out more money for the hardbound photo collection was too much to bear.

“Yearbook fees add up to the burden of the parents,” he said.

The Inquirer learned that yearbooks cost between P1,500 to P1,800 in public schools here. The price is double in private schools.

“I am expecting that this ordinance will be approved to lessen the school expenses of graduating students and their parents,” Evangelista said.

He said that instead of the usual hardbound yearbooks, school administrators could use existing technologies to publish a roster of their graduates, such as the Internet.

“With the present technology and innovations, we can explore other ways to save on yearbook expenses,” Evangelista said.

He said the city council was scheduling consultations as a “means of getting the pulse of school administrators, parents and the graduating students.”

He said schools have been furnished copies of the proposed ordinance.