President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act No. 11984, also known as “No Permit, No Exam Prohibition Act,” wherein students with unpaid tuition and other school fees will be allowed to take periodical and final examinations.
The said law covers all public and private K-12 institutions, higher education institutions, and technical vocational institutions for the “entire school year.”
“All public and private educational institutions covered by this Act are hereby mandated to accommodate and allow Disadvantaged Students unable to pay tuition and other fees to take the periodic and final examinations without requiring a permit,” according to the law.
In addition, the municipal, city, provincial, or regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development shall issue the certificate regarding the disadvantaged status of the student due to calamities, emergencies, force majeure, and other good or justifiable reasons in accordance with the law’s implementing rules and regulations.
“The Act shall be without prejudice to the right and power of the educational institutions to require the submission of a promissory note, withhold records and credential of students and such other legal and administrative remedies available to them for the collection of unpaid fees,” it said.
All covered public and private institutions found guilty shall be subject to “administrative sanctions that may be imposed by the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.”
