MANILA: President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has signed into law a measure prohibiting the ”no permit, no exam’ policy to allow disadvantaged students to take scheduled periodic and final examinations despite unsettled financial obligations.
In a statement on Saturday, Communication Secretary Cheloy Garafil said Marcos signed Republic Act (RA) 11984, or the ‘No Permit, No Exam’ Prohibition Act on March 11.
Garafil said RA 11984 covers all public and private basic education (K to 12) institutions, higher education institutions, and technical-vocational institutions (TVIs).
‘Students with unpaid tuition and other school fees could now take periodic and final examinations, following President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s signing of Republic Act 11984,’ she said.
Garafil said all covered public and private educational institutions found guilty of violating RA 11984 will be subject to administrative sanctions that may be imposed by the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
Under RA 11984, all public and private educational institutions are mandated to accommodate and allow disadvantaged students with unpaid tuition and other school fees to take the periodic and final exams without requiring a permit.
In the case of K to 12 students, the mandate will be for the entire school year, according to the new law.
Garafil said RA 11984 should be implemented without prejudice to the right and power of the educational institutions to require the submission of a promissory note, withhold the records and credentials of students, and such other legal and administrative remedies available to them for the collection of unpaid fees.
The law mandates the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to issue the necessary certificate on the disadvantaged status of the student due to calamities, emergencies, force majeure (uncontrollable events), and other good or justifiable reasons.
The issuance of certificates by the muni
cipal, city, and provincial social welfare and development officer, or the regional office of the DSWD should be in accordance with the agency’s implementing rules and regulations.
Garafil said the DSWD, in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, shall promulgate the rules and regulations defining “disadvantaged student” and the criteria and requirements for the effectivity of the issuance of necessary certifications by different entities involved to effectively carry out the law.
Malacañang has yet to release a copy of RA 11984.
Source: Philippines News Agency
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has guided military drills involving the country’s paratroopers and called for full preparations for war, state media said Saturday, in an apparent protest of the latest joint military exercise staged by South Korea and the United States.
The training of air-borne military units held Friday was aimed at inspecting paratroopers’ readiness to be mobilized for any military operation plan in “surprise wartime circumstances,” according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Kim stressed that the “primary duty” of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) is to make full preparations for war.
“He underlined the need for all the service personnel of the KPA to firmly arm themselves with the strong will against the enemy and thoroughgoing outlook on war that they have to change history without fail if a war breaks out,” the KCNA said.
Photos carried by the KCNA showed Kim being accompanied by his teen daughter, believed to be named Ju-ae, in inspecting the drills.
Seoul and Washington wr
apped up the annual Freedom Shield exercise on Thursday after staging it for 11 days to strengthen deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
In response, the North’s leader guided military exercises, including artillery firing drills and training involving tank units.
The North’s leader has defined inter-Korean ties as relations between “two states hostile to each other” and vowed to control the South Korean territory in the event of war.
Meanwhile, the North Korean leader attended a ceremony marking the completion of building a greenhouse farm with his daughter on Friday, according to a separate dispatch by the KCNA.
The Kangdong Greenhouse Farm, built on the site of a military airfield near Pyongyang, is the third modernized farm built in recent years to grow vegetables amid a chronic food shortage. North Korea built similar greenhouse farms in Hamgyong Province in 2019 and 2022.
The latest inspection marked Ju-ae’s third public activity in the economy-related sector since she first
made a public appearance in November 2022. She mostly accompanied her father to military events.
The North’s media used the rare expression of “the great persons of guidance” in an apparent reference to Kim Jong-un and Ju-ae.
“If the expression means Kim and his daughter, it would be the first time that she been given the status of a great guide (of the country),” said Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies.
“But given that there has been no personality cult about her and her name has not been publicly mentioned, it does not appear that she has been ultimately anointed as Kim Jong-un’s successor,” he added.
The National Intelligence Service, South Korea’s spy agency, said it sees Ju-ae as Kim Jong-un’s “most likely successor,” citing her public activities and the level of the North’s respect toward her.
Source: Yonhap News Agency