Kabataan Party-list Representative Raymond “Mong” Palatino today called on schools and colleges in areas struck by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng to extend the deadline of payment for students and to suspend the implementation of the “no permit, no exam” policy.

Nearing the “finals week” period in schools, the youth solon said victims of the recent natural calamities would find it difficult to pay for various school fees as they have yet to recover from the said tragedies.

“I appeal to our school administrators to allow students to take final examinations even if they haven’t settled their payments yet. The massive flooding brought about by the heavy rains left most of our students in these areas with nothing,” Palatino said.

Earlier, Kabataan Party-list filed House Bill 6799 seeking to junk the “no permit no exam” policy and other regulations imposed by colleges and universities prohibiting students from taking their periodic or final examinations due to unpaid tuition and other fees.

Palatino said a regulation such as the “no permit, no exam” policy contributes to the already dire situation of decreasing access to education under the Arroyo regime. “Maraming estudyante ang hindi nakapagpapatuloy ng kanilang pag-aaral dahil hinahayaan ng gobyerno ang mga kolehiyo na mag-impose ng ganitong mapagsamantalang regulasyon,” he said.

“Especially during these times of crisis, our schools should scrap their repressive policies to help students and their families affected by these tragedies,” he said.