Magna Carta of Students Bill

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The Situation:

Schools have failed time and again to become more than instructional sites or reproduction centers of labor force.

The Situation:

The education system is highly deregulated.

Deregulation:

Education experiences problems in:

AccessibilityCommercializationFunding

Source: FDC

Government Expenditures 1987-2006 (in billion pesos)

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Aquino Ramos Estrada Arroyo

Debt Service (Interest plus Principal)EducationHealthSocial Security

There is a lack of a national policy which could place, at the very least, minimum standards on howto mitigate the worsening gaps in the education system.

SCHOOLS CAN BECOME: SCHOOLS SHOULD BE:

>> diploma mills / profit oriented (vocational and technical schools banking on Nursing, HRM, or IT courses)

>> undemocratic and abusive (discrimination against pregnant women and homosexuals)

>> political and cultural centers (provides an environment for independent thought)

>> breeding ground for critical thinking (necessary in becoming an active citizen for personal development and nation-building)

STUDENT COUNCILS BECOME: SCHOOL PAPERS BECOME:

>> breeding ground not for genuine student leaders (pro-students’ rights and welfare) but opportunists (position-oriented and award-seeking; TRAPO)

>> event organizers limited to mundane projects (clean and green, concerts, feeding programs) in expense of real functions (tuition-monitoring, agenda-building)

>> biased and censored ; away from genuine journalism (vanguards of TRUTH)

>> accountable to irresponsible media in the future

Because of the lack of democratic spaces:

“Magna Carta of Students is a document

which guarantees the political and civil

liberties of the Filipino student”.

Magna Carta of Students Bill is a consolidated version of three existing bills by Reps.

Hontiveros, Lagman and Rodriguez which aims to

uphold the rights and welfare of students.

SCAP leaders during the filing of the STRAW Bill with Rep. Hontiveros, Sept. 17, 2007

HB 2584 or Akbayan’s versionof the Students’ Rights and Welfare bill, has gone through in-depth consultations nationwide among different student councils/ governments and youth organizations.

Magna Carta of Students Bill is a product of thorough discourse among student and youth leaders.

What are our guaranteed rights as Filipino students?Consistent with the 1987 constitution, Magna Carta of Students ensures the basic and fundamental rights of students as Filipino citizens.

>> to admission, non-discrimination, and quality education>> to organize and establish their own student council/government and/or organizations>> to participate in policy-making processes>> to free expression and information>> to exercise their academic freedom>> to due process in disciplinary proceedings>> to privacy (against unreasonable searches and seizures)>> to be secured within school premises

Salient Features:

I. RIGHT TO ADMISSION WITHOUT UNDUE DISCRIMINATION

No student shall be denied admission to any school on account of his/her physical handicap, socio-economic status, political and religious beliefs, sexual orientation or membership of student organizations, nor shall pregnant students certified reformed drug abusers and those suffering from immune deficiency syndrome be discriminated against

Salient Features:II. RIGHT TO COMPETENT INSTRUCTION AND RELEVANT QULAITY EDUCATION

Every student shall have the right to competent instruction and quality education relevant to his/her personal and cultural development and that of the nation.

Students shall have the right to make a written evaluation of the performance of their teachers towards the end of the school term.

Salient Features:III. RIGHT TO ADEQUATE WELFARE SERVICES AND ACADEMIC FACILITIES

It shall be the responsibility of the school administration to provide the students with adequate welfare services and academic facilities relative to the financial capacity of the school.

The school shall endeavor to provide free annual physical check-up to the students. It shall be the responsibility of the school authorities to provide students with adequate laboratory, library, research, recreation and physical education facilities.

Salient Features:IV. RIGHT TO ORGANIZE STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

The rights of the students to form, assist, or join other organization, alliance or federation for their physical, intellectual, moral, cultural, civic, spiritual, and political interest shall not be abridged.

Pursuant thereto, the practice of making students sign waiver document which states that they are not members of and will not join a specified organization before being allowed to enroll is hereby prohibited.

Salient Features:V. RIGHT TO BE ACCREDITED AND GRANTED OF PRIVILEGES TO STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS

No unreasonable requirements shall be imposed on student organization seeking recognition.

The student council in coordination of the student affairs office shall take charge of the accreditation and re-accreditation of student organizations.

Excessive charges for the use of school facilities shall be prohibited. Whenever possible, the school administration shall allow student organizations to use school facilities free of charge.

Salient Features:VI. RIGHT TO ORGANIZE A STUDENT COUNCIL/GOVERNMENT

There shall be one university student council/government for each school campus that shall be given recognition by the schools, colleges and universities concerned.

Every student council/government shall have the right to determine its policies and programs on student activities subject to its duly ratified charter or constitution and to school rules and regulations provided the same do not infringe on the basic human rights.

Salient Features:

VII. STUDENT COUNCIL/GOVERNMENT CHARTER OR CONSTITUTIONS

The Student Council/Government Charter or Constitution shall be formed by the representatives of all student organizations in a school and shall be ratified by the student body.

Salient Features:VIII. FORMATION OF THE STUDENT COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS

There is hereby created a Commission on Elections (COMELEC) that shall conduct and oversee the election of officers of the student council/government.

Once constituted, the COMELEC shall be independent and autonomous from any sector of the school and shall ensure the conduct of clean, honest and peaceful elections. The school must provide the COMELEC sufficient funds to ensure the success of its goals and objectives.

Salient Features:

IX. PROHIBITION IN THE USE OF FORCE AND EXACTION OF EXCESSIVE FEES

All campus organizations shall be prohibited using force in the initiation of and exacting excessive fees from their members as well as their other student activities.

Salient Features:X. REPRESENTATION IN POLICY – MAKING BODY

There shall be a student representative in the policy-formulating body of the school.

The duly elected student representative from the selection process of the Student Council/Government shall represent the student body to the policy-making body.

He shall have the same rights as that of the regular member, but his privileges shall be limited to reimbursement for actual expenses in attending meetings.

Salient Features:XI. RIGHT TO BE INFORMED

The rights of the students to information on matters directly or indirectly affecting their welfare shall be recognized.

Access to official records and other pertinent documents and papers pertaining to official act, transactions or decisions shall be afforded by the students subject only to reasonable regulations that maybe imposed such as time for examining the documents and other papers to prevent loss or damage of the same.

Salient Features:XII. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Students shall have the right to peaceably assemble and petition the government and school authorities for the redress of their grievances. Pursuant thereto, no school regulation shall be imposed violating or abridging the student’s right to assembly.

Student shall have access to print and broadcast media . They shall also have the right to print, circulate and/or mount leaflets, newsletters, posters, wall news, petitions and such other materials.

Salient Features:XIII. STUDENT PUBLICATION

Students shall have the right to publish student newspaper and other similar publications, print in their pages materials that they deem in pursuance of their academic freedom and freedom of expression in accordance with Campus Journalism Act of 1991.

Pursuant thereto, no individual who is not a staff member of the publication shall determine its content. The role of the faculty adviser in the student newspaper shall be limited to technical guidance.

Salient Features:XIII. STUDENT PUBLICATION

The editorial staff shall observe the ethics of professional journalism. It shall be the responsibility of the editorial staff to ensure that the student paper is not used for purposes contrary to law.

The editor/editorial staff shall, unless sooner removed for cause and with due process, be assured of security of tenure for the duration of his/her its prescribed term.

Salient Features:XIV. ACADEMIC FREEDOM

Students’ academic freedom shall consist of, but not limited to, the following rights:

To conduct researches in connection with academic work, and to freely discuss and publish their findings and recommendations;

To conduct inquiry within the campus in curricular and extra-curricular activities;


To choose a field of study and to pursue the quest for truth; to express their opinion on any subject or public or general concern which directly or indirectly affects the students of the educational system;

To choose a field of study and to pursue the quest for truth; to express their opinion on any subject or public or general concern which directly or indirectly affects the students of the educational system;


To invite off-campus speakers or resource persons to student-sponsored assemblies, fora, symposia, and other similar activities;

To express contrary interpretations or dissenting opinions inside and outside the classroom;

To participate in the drafting of a new curriculum and in the review or revision of the old;

Salient Features:

XIV. ACADEMIC FREEDOM

To participate in the drafting and/or revising of the student handbook which shall include the school rules and regulations, a copy of which shall be furnished the students upon admission to the school; and

To be free from any form of indoctrination leading to imposed ideological hegemony.

Salient Features:XV. RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS

A student subject to disciplinary proceedings shall have the right to defend himself, to be heard and to present evidence on his/her behalf before an impartial body.

There shall be a Student Disciplinary Board to be composed of one (1) representative from the school administration, two (2) faculty members and two (2) students to conduct investigations into and decide on cases of student violations of disciplinary standards.

Salient Features:

XVI. RIGHT AGAINST UNREASONABLE SEARCHES AND SEIZURES

Every student shall be free from any form of unreasonable search and seizure.

Salient Features:XVII. ACCESS TO SCHOOL RECORDS AND ISSUANCE OF OFFICIALS CERTIFICATES

Every student shall have access to his/her own school records, the confidentiality of which the school shall maintain.

He/She shall have the right to be issued official certificates, diplomas, transcripts of records, grades, transfer credentials and other similar documents within thirty (30) days from the filing of request and accomplishment of all pertinent requirements.

Salient Features:

XVIII. SECURITY OF TENURE

It shall be the right of students to finish their entire courses of study in a given school, except in cases of academic deficiency or violation of disciplinary regulations.

In cases wherein the school authorities refuse to allow a student to enroll for the subsequent semester or year due to the causes hereinabove stated, the student may appeal such ruling to the appropriate education agency.

Salient Features:

XIX. PROHIBITION AGAINST INVOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS

Except those approved by their own student organizations, all involuntary contributions shall be prohibited.

Salient Features:XX. COLLECTION OF STUDENT PAPER AND STUDENT COUNCIL FEES

The school administration shall assist the student paper staff and the student council/government, in their financial needs through the collection of student paper and student council fees from the students.

The student paper fees shall be held in trust for their unhampered use in the publication of student paper.

Salient Features:

XXI. PRIVACY OF COMMUNICATION

The privacy of communication and correspondence among students shall remain inviolable.

Salient Features:

XXII. SCHOLARSHIP GRANTS AND PRIVILEGES

Opposition to school policies inimical to students’ interest shall not be a ground for denying or withdrawing scholarships grants and privileges to deserving students.

Salient Features:

XXIII. RIGHT TO ADEQUATE AND SAFE HOUSING/DORMITORY FACILITIES

The state and the respective school authorities shall endeavor to provide the students adequate, safe and clean housing facilities.

Salient Features:XXIV. PROHIBITION AGAINST MILITARIZATION OF THE SCHOOL CAMPUS

The pursuit of academic excellence and exercise of academic freedom can be attained only in an atmosphere free from fear and unreasonable restraint. Pursuant thereto, no military detachment shall be installed on the school campus.

Military elements and/or policeman in uniform or in plain clothes and school security forces shall not interfere with student activities, particularly peaceful mass actions, inside the school campus.

Salient Features:

XXV. FIREARMS BAN

Students shall not be allowed to carry firearms inside the school campus.

Simple rights.

Fundamental rights.

Why do we need to guarantee these rights?

No policy currently exists that can sufficiently

and satisfactorily guard our students from

possible exploitations.

tuition increase | campus militarization | media censorship | forced disappearances | lack of representation | gender discrimination

Why do we need to guarantee these rights?

tuition increase | campus militarization | media censorship | forced disappearances | lack of representation | gender discrimination

“Education should encouragefree and critical thinking whichcould help in molding and crafting new ideas and means that could later contribute to genuine national development”.

Tina LangitChairperson, UP Manila BIGKIS

Is the bill set against university administrators?

NO. The bill actually recognizes the role of all stakeholders in the whole educational system.

Is the bill set against university administrators? NO.

The bill provides mechanisms for checks and balances in all university processes. For example, the bill tasks school

administrations to create a School Fee Board which shall be comprised of “equal number of

representatives from administration, academic and non-academic personnel, parents/guardians,

students and alumni associations” (Section 12, Chapter 3, Substitute Bill,

Magna Carta of Students).

Can the bill be circumvented and utilized against students?

NO. This bill likewise empowers the Department of Education (DepEd) , the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)

to become more than monitoring institutions.

Can the bill be circumvented and utilized against students? NO.

The bill empowers DepEd, CHED and TESDA to render judgment and execute necessary administrative punishments or make essential recommendations in the Department of Justice for prosecution of any offending party which/who has violated any provision in the bill.

Why do we need to support the bill?

Because this is a concrete step toaddress the perennial problems in the education system.

Why do we need to support the bill?

This is OUR proposal.

This is OUR bill.

Documents

Magna Carta of Students Bill