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Friday, June 20, 2003
Editorial: School contributions
*They are lawful. It’s only the compulsion that is not.
Public school principals and supervisors in Cebu City are scheduled to meet today on the problem of forced collection of “voluntary” school contributions.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña again found a cause for exploding, venting his anger on people, and issuing threats.
Last Tuesday, he warned City Schools Superintendent Leonilo Oliva he would go after his neck if he would not cooperate in stopping the forced collection.
Oliva must still have such great affection for his neck that he promptly announced the meeting to discuss the problem, which is neither new nor without solution.
The solution has been Department of Education Memorandum Order 38, which prohibits the collection of P150 to P270 “voluntary contribution” as requirement of enrollment, and Cebu City Ordinance 1908, which declares unlawful, among others, the collection of allowed contributions as requirement of enrollment.
Why then does the problem exist? Or is there a problem?
DepEd officials say there may be cases of “forced” collection but there are no complainants. And there are no complainants because there is no parent or child who has come out, or no pupil has actually been refused enrollment. Perhaps everyone who enrolled paid.
Consider the culture of the Filipino. Even the poorest who send their children to a public school can scrape enough money for the essentials, which include the P150 to P270 contribution. They save or they ask or borrow.
The mayor’s political supporter who asked or borrowed from him could have embellished his tale so that his loan would not be refused. That parent should be a good witness if his child had been threatened with non-enrollment.
Teachers listing students could have asked payment for the contributions but didn’t press anyone to pay and didn’t refuse enrollment if no money was paid. They know the order and the city ordinance. They know the danger of violating the rule.
If there are teachers who go out on a limb, it must be because they have to pay for the shortfall or the failure to collect will reflect on their efficiency, which translates against promotion or ranking.
The point is that the contributions are lawful. It’s only the compulsion that is not.
Any compulsion must be stopped, condemned and sanctioned. But to go ballistic over a still unproven violation and demand a mass refund is impractical and illegal. It will also subvert the work of the beneficiaries of the collection, which include the Boy Scouts and the Red Cross.
Cebu City can subsidize the contributions, but it’s a lot of money. With 144,000 pupils, that will be about P21.6 million (at P150 per pupil) or P38.8 million (at P270 per pupil). It’s also doubtful if audit regulations will allow it. A previous City Hall spending for ballpens has reportedly been disallowed.
But the subsidy will be welcomed by parents, who won’t have to pay anymore, and teachers as well, who won’t have to put themselves and their officials at risk.
(June 20, 2003 issue)
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