Villar vows to do away the 'no permit, no exam' policy in schools

FORMER Las Piñas Representative Cynthia Villar has vowed to pursue the proposed measure filed by her husband, outgoing Senator Manny Villar, which prohibits colleges and universities from preventing students to take examinations over unpaid tuition and other school fees.

Villar, who is running for senator under the Nacionalista Party-Team PNoy, said this will among her priorities in case she wins a senate seat in the coming May elections.

Senator Villar’s term of office ends in June 2013. In October 2011, Senator Villar, a former House Speaker and Senate President, filed a bill to keep higher educational institutions from implementing “No permit, No Exam” policies, saying it amounts to depriving students the right to take examinations.

Villar’s bill, however, allows schools to withhold grades and clearances of students, and keep them from enrolling again until they settle their accounts.

But Villar’s bill was not passed in the Senate, although it was referred to the Senate committee on education chaired by Senator Edgardo Angara. Its counterpart bill was approved on third reading in the House of Representatives.

The senator’s wife, widely-known as “Misis Hanep Buhay,” said it is lamentable that this ‘unfortunate’ incident happened to a young “Iskolar ng Bayan” at UP Manila, who could be the ‘key’ to take out of poverty her parents and four younger siblings.

“Another life was wasted due to poverty,” said Villar who has also been advocating jobs for everybody to lead a comfortable life.

To avoid another case of Kristel Tejada, who committed suicide after she was forced to file a leave of absence due to unpaid tuition fees, former Villar also underscored the need to revisit and review the policies of state universities and colleges to which UP Manila belongs, and the other educational institutions in the country.