CHED to regulate educational tours

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Higher Education (CHED), upon the prodding of the House of Representatives, has decided to strictly regulate the conduct of educational tours and field trips.

“This new policy is the result of consultations with CHED and administrators of universities and colleges in past hearings of the House committee on higher and technical education,” Rep. Raymond Palatino of the party-list group Kabataan said yesterday.

It was Palatino’s Resolution 832 that prompted the committee chaired by Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara to hold the consultations. Palatino said CHED’s decision to monitor and regulate educational tours and field trips “is a welcome development.”

He added that CHED’s new policies on out-of-school activities are contained in Memorandum Order (MO) 17 series of 2012.

The issuance defines educational tours as “extended educational activities involving the travel of students and supervising faculty outside the school campus,” usually lasting for more than a day. Field trips, on the other hand, are out-of-school activities usually lasting for only a day or less. The memorandum said the destination for trips or tours should be near the higher education institution (HEI) .

The CHED issuance requires schools to conduct prior consultation with students when field trips and tours require additional cost. It compels schools to give “parallel school activities which provide similar acquisition of knowledge” for students who cannot join educational tours or field trips.

This means that joining an educational tour or a field trip is voluntary on the part of students, Palatino said.

He said another provision of the CHED order makes it “unlawful for an HEI employee to personally profit” from the tour or trip.

He said the CHED is requiring schools to submit information on the nature of educational tours and field trips they intend to conduct at least a month before the opening of the school year.

“HEIs found violating MO 17 will be subjected to varying sanctions, ranging from a written warning to the disapproval of application for new fees, revocation of permits, and filing of criminal charges,” he added.