Rep. Garin lauds CHED for clarifying policies on educational tours and field trip

Believing that costly field trips and educational tours are unnecessary and it has become an entrepreneurial undertaking for some professors, Rep. Janette Loreta Garin of the 1st District of Iloilo lauds the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chaired by Patricia B. Licuanan for issuing Memorandum Order no. 17 which clarifies the policies and guidelines on educational tours and field trips of college and graduate students.

Rep. Garin’sheartfelt sentiment on the issue is influenced by the countless personal accounts from long distressed constituents requesting for financial aid in order to fulfil this school requirement. These educational tours and field trips should promote learning but most often than not, based on the comments from parents and students, are just recreational activities that offer very little or at times absolutely no valuable learning at all, explained Rep. Garin.

According to Rep. Garin, the issuance of this much needed memorandum is such a welcome move towards PNoy’s Matuwid na Daan. Rep. Garin said, “finally, CHED has issued something concrete to help alleviate the suffering of students and parents unnecessarily burdened with exorbitant field trip fees,” she said.
Rep. Garin stressed that the expenses incurred for such activities are an encumbrance that should never have been placed on the already heavily burdened students and their financially challenged parents. “These parents are already facing hardships just to send their children to school, these additional unnecessary expenses should be lifted off their shoulders,” she added.

However, Rep. Garin recognizes that there are courses which require learning exposures. “A thorough review should be done to identify specific curriculum needed field trips,” she said.” Once determined to be vital to the students’ learning, a maximum allowable charges formandatory and required education tours must be imposed,” ended Rep. Garin.