Articles

330, 430, and 431 of the University System Code

Last May 21, the Review Committee of the Board of Regents called for the University Student Council Chairpersons of Diliman, Los Banos, and Manila to discuss possible courses of action and alternatives for specific provisions relating to the tuition system in the University Code. The following points were discussed:

Art. 330 No person who has not duly matriculated may be admitted to the classes. In exceptional cases, the University Registrar may, on the recommendation of the Dean or Director concerned, authorize the admission of a visitor to a class for not more than five (5) sessions.

Art. 430 Students who are indebted to the Student Loan and Short-Term Cash Loan Funds, their sureties and parents or guardians shall be notified that such indebtedness must be paid as follows:

Student Loan - should be paid at one time or in four installments one month before the final examination.

Short Term Cash Loan - is payable within ninety (90) days. After

ninety (90)

days, a service charge shall be collected per month. The period of payment shall be extendable to another sixty (60) days. If after the extension the loan has not been fully paid, the co- debtor shall pay the principal, the interest and service charge.

Art. 431 If a student fails to settle account in full one month before the final semestral examinations, the faculty member shall either bar the delinquent student from taking the examinations or, if the student is allowed to take the examinations, withhold the grades. If the account is not settled by the opening of the following semester, the student may not be allowed to enroll.

During the course of the discussion, a number of alternatives were raised. The very same alternatives will be discussed to further manifest the unified stand of the University Student Council and the College Councils of UP Diliman, UP Los Baos, and UP Manila.

Article 330 According to Section 9 of RA 9500 on Democratic Access, The national university shall take affirmative steps which may take the form of an alternative and equitable admissions process to enhance the access of disadvantaged students No student shall be denied admission to the national university by reason solely of ...economic status... Article 330 evidently violates the principle stated by imposing a policy that denies access to deserving students to a UP Education due to financial incapacity. The government is mandated to ensure accessible and indiscriminate education to all students, particularly to the University of the Philippines, being a national university as stated in the UP Charter. Taking the recent case of Kristel Tejada in UP Manila as an example, the existence of such policy resulted in complete denial of access to education concretized by the Forced Leave of Absence (FLOA). Thus, Article 330, a policy that clearly violates the right of students to accessible education to the national university, must be repealed from the UP System Code. Coverage and Interest Rate of the Student Loan Board In the current system, a student may loan a certain percentage of his/her tuition fee based on year level. It ranges from 70% for freshmen and sophomores, 80% for juniors and seniors to 85% for graduate students. With 6% annual interest, the student tuition loan must be paid in full or installment one (1) month before the finals week of that semester. We recognize the need for a revision when it comes to the present situation of the loan system for students. It is true that comparing the current loan opportunities which could take care of 70% to 85% of the total tuition fees of students, it is still better to introduce a system wherein they could loan for 100% of their total tuition. This is to give more flexibility to the student body on choosing the best time to pay for the tuition fees. In addition, the interest rate, which accounts for 6% of the loan per annum, could be a big burden for them in the long run. Therefore, it is better to remove the interest liability of students who choose to loan. This would remove the burden of paying more in the future. Therefore, it is

urgent that we expand the coverage of the loan system to 100% and remove the interest rates that students need to pay. Deadline of Loan Payments In its current form, the university allows the student to avail a loan, given that he/she is bound to clear before the succeeding semester starts. When a student fails to do so, this article gives the faculty the authority to bar the student from taking examinations, withhold the grades of the student, therefore making him ineligible to enroll for the next semester. Also, students who aren't able to pay their loan from the previous semester are not allowed to pre-enlist subjects for the next semester. This clearly violates the mandate of the University, as aforementioned in the guiding principles of the UP Charter, RA 9500, SEC. 9 - Democratic Access. Given this, we find it important to give an ample time for students to be able to pay for the loan without having to suffer being rejected from the enlistment process. It is just fair to consider that students may find it difficult to pay the loan in one semester due to various economic factors. With this, we urge the administration to extend the deadline given to students who loan from one semester to one academic year. Also, we would like the university to be able to implement a Study Now, Pay Later Scheme for those students who wish to just pay their tuition once they're able to earn the money to do so. Our Struggle Remains While we accept the fact that these revisions are better than what we currently have, we still demand for the UP Administration and the Philippine Government to heed our calls for a better education system. We won't allow these policy changes to stop our call for Full State Subsidy, Better Management of SUC Funds, and Transparency and Accountability in the Budget Process. For how many years, we have repeatedly called for the government to completely subsidize the Budget Proposal of UP. Although the UP budget has increased recently, it is still far from what the university truly needs in order to provide quality education to its students. In Section 2 of the Declaration of Policy in the 2008 UP Charter, it is stated, The University of the Philippines is hereby declared as the national university. The State shall promote, foster, nurture and protect the right of all

citizens to accessible quality education. Toward this end, it is the policy of the State to strengthen the University of the Philippines as the national university. Therefore, we strongly assert our call for full state subsidy to UP Education. While the responsibility of the government to give a full subsidy to UP is a must, theres also a mutual responsibility on the part of the university to provide platforms for checks and balances when it comes to the internal allotment of its funds. In line with this principle, we would like to stress the importance of having transparency and accountability when it comes to data pertaining to financial transactions undertaken by UP. Currently, theres no specific policy in all UP units when it comes to students access to these information for research and investigative purposes. This is a complete violation to the principles of transparency and accountability that our councils would like to forward. Also, it is mentioned in Sec. 3 (h) of the UP Charter of 2008, The University shall provide democratic governance in the university based on collegiality, representation, accountability, and active participation of its constituents. This policy must not be so strict so as to give an unbalanced power between the student body and the holders of the information. In this manner, student participation in the internal budgeting process of UP would be maximized. Also, transparency and accountability on the part of the administration would be further ensured. Therefore, we urge the administration of all SUC's to create policies governing the release of data to students to ensure transparency and accountability. It is clear that revising Articles 330, 430, and 431 are not enough to answer our calls for a better UP Education. The government and the university administration can expect us students to remain vigilant and active in continuously campaigning for these causes to come into fruition.

Note: The University Student Council and College Councils of UP Diliman, UP Los Baos, and UP Manila also demands full disclosure and active consultation from the review committee throughout the whole deliberation process of Articles 330, 430, and 431.

Signed by:
UPD University Student Council UPD League of College Councils Architecture Student Council Asian Institute of Tourism Student Council Business Administration Council Engineering Student Council College of Arts and Letters Student Council College of Education Student Council College of Fine Arts Student Council College of Home Economics Student Council College of Human Kinetics Student Council College of Mass Communication Student Council College of Music Student Council College of Science Student Council College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Student Council College of Social Work and Community Development Student Council Law Student Government National College of Public Administration and Governance Student Government School of Economics Student Council School of Library and Information Studies Student Council School of Statistics Student Council UPM University Student Council University of the Philippines Pharmaceutical Association UPM College Student Councils College of Allied Medical Professions Student Council College of Arts and Sciences Student Council College of Dentistry Student Council College of Medicine Student Council College of Nursing Student Council College of Public Health Student Council UPLB University Student Council UPLB College Student Councils College of Agriculture Student Council College of Arts and Sciences Student Council College of Development Communication Student Council College of Economics and Management Student Council College of Engineering and Agro- industrial Technology Student Council College of Forestry and Natural Resources Student Council College of Human Ecology Student Council College of Veterinary Medicine Student Council