by Justin John Dulogin
Just recently, the school implemented the five hundred peso fee from the original fifty peso monetary penalty for the lost examination permit which started last academic year 2017. This policy was discussed during the first school family orientation last year. Basically, students are required to comply with the rules. Proctors themselves must also observe this school policy during examination period. This implies strict rules as a disciplinary action for students who are negligent and who take advantage before on the fifty pesos fee for every lost permit.
During the preliminary examination in the first semester, there were students who lost or left their permits which resulted into long-winded rants and complaints of the said penalty.
“Accidents happen all the time. Student or not, forgetting something is an example of a mishap of every human being. A five hundred peso penalty is just too much as a punishment for this especially with the fact that I already paid for my exam.” Augustine, a student who left his permit, said.
“The reason why I lost my permit was because my classmate accidentally brought it. It was already late when my classmate returned it because I already paid for the 500 pesos fee and the cashier said that there will be no refund. I wasted my 500 pesos for that accident. I strongly believe that the penalty is overpriced,” another student, Jun Victor, a senior high school student who also forgot his permit, explained.
To balance the contrast, an interview was made with the head of the student’s affairs, Sir Matty Joey Torres. When asked why the administrators proposed the fee he answered that, “discipline among students is one of the main problems in school and almost all the teachers have to deal with it each day. At first, we didn’t recognize the problem on the incidents of lost examination permits until some students have reached twenty thousand worth of debt from the examinations they took without their payment and permit. It was clear that keeping exam permits was taken for granted that was why we took an action. Another thing, based on the school’s record, there were around ten to fifteen students who used other’s paid permit while some who let their permits to be used, bought another one since replacement of the lost permits only cost fifty pesos before. A bad habit usually begets another bad habit; thus, discipline must be felt by the students. We believe that the five hundred peso penalty would stop their habitual fraudulence.”
“This is a lesson to all that important documents must be kept with care because whether we are students or not, it is our duty and obligation to be mindful on the essentials,” Sir Matty concluded.
Engr. Aida Rosales, the Academic Head of the college gave her insights about the permit issue as well.
“I did a briefing on why they impose this penalty. I found out that the students can actually abuse the minimal replacement of examination permit even if it has the number coding in it because these are given to them without names and they can just go directly to the registrar and reason out that they lost their permit and that they need replacement since they already paid the tuition,” she explained.
“I think it has to do with their values because most students can just easily have left or forgotten their permits because these were only worth fifty pesos so the institution had to stop that habit. Generally, the said increase will minimize the habitual attitude and lost permits. In terms of discipline, yes, it is a good change because it will bring out honesty,” she added.
While gaining good academic grades is important, being responsible on small things also ensures good values and morale as students are honed to be law-abiding citizens. For you, does the five hundred peso penalty for lost permit would be a good change? What other positive reinforcement can you recommend to aid the issue?