Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Baguio City
THIRD YOUTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 0915
Introduced by Honorable Kris John C. Suñga
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Pursuant to RA 7722 or the Higher Education Act of 1994, the Commission on Higher Education is mandated, as one of its tasks, to ensure and protect academic freedom for the continuing intellectual growth, the advancement or learning and research, the development of responsible and effective leadership.
Thus, many of CHED accredited Higher Education Institutions declare their principle or academic freedom (e.g. No teacher of the University of the Philippines may claim as his/her right the privilege of discussing in his/her classroom controversial topics that are not pertinent to the course of study that is being pursued). Such declarations are generally buried in faculty handbooks as faculty responsibilities never codified as student right. But with all due respect, most universities’ academic-freedom policies generally fail to make explicit, let alone codify, the institutions’ commitment to intellectual diversity or the academic right of students. The institution also does not make their policies readily available to students – who therefore are generally not even aware that such policies exist, with this we can say that such declaration of policies is not binding.
All frequently, professors behave as advocates in the classroom, express opinions in a partisan manner on controversial issues irrelevant to the academic subject and even grade students in a manner the students doesn’t really know why do they deserve such grade.
Nor does there any grievance machinery that specifically recognize this academic freedom right or that provides a policy for grievance.
The reasons for enacting Academic Bill of Rights are that too many faculty members of our universities no longer observe their responsibility to teach and not to indoctrinate students; that universities administration no longer enforce their faculty guidelines on academic freedom; and that the existing guidelines are not codified as students rights; as result students currently have no way to redress their grievances.
For all these reasons, I recommend the early approval of this bill.
KRIS JOHN C. SUÑGA
Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Baguio City
THIRD YOUTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 0915
Introduced by Honorable Kris John C. Suñga
AN ACT RECOGNIZING
THE RIGHTS OF THE STUDENTS, FACULTY AND INSTRUCTORS
IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representative of the Philippines in Congress assembled:
SECTION 1. TITLE – This act shall be known as the ACADEMIC BILL OF RIGHTS
SECTION 2. GENERAL POLICY
(a) Sec. 2 Article XIV of the 1987 Philippine Constitution mandates that the state shall “establish, maintain, and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people and society”
(b) Mandates the Higher Education Institutions to maintain and uphold the ideals of quality and excellence.
(c) Uphold the Academic Freedom and guidelines of all accredited institutions of higher learning in the Philippines .
(d) Recognize scholarship rather that ideology as an appropriate academic enterprise.
SECTION 3. DEFINITION OF TERMS – as used in this Act, the following term shall
mean.
Higher Education Institutions (HEI’s) – refers to all institutions of higher learning in the Philippines primarily offering baccalaureate and graduate programs duly recognized by CHED.
SECTION 4. COVERAGE – This Act shall apply to all private and sate universities and colleges recognized by CHED.
SECTION 5. That the board of trustees of each institution of higher education as defined by Sec. 5, Rule IV, C of the Commission on Higher Education Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 25, series of 2003, otherwise known as the GRANT OF UNIVERSITY SYSTEM TITLE TO HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS. The ACADEMIC SENATE that holds power to pass on all academic policies for recommendation to the governing body issued under Sec. 5, Rule IV, D of the CMO No, 25 series of 2003 shall adopt a policy recognizing that the students, faculty and instructors of the Higher education Institutions have the following rights:
(A) The institution shall provide its students with a learning environment in which the students have access to a broad range of serious scholarly opinions pertaining to the subjects they study. Curricula and reading lists in Humanities and Social Studies shall respect all human knowledge in these areas and provide students with dissenting sources and viewpoints.
(B) Students shall be graded solely on the basis of their reasoned answers and appropriate knowledge of the subjects and disciplines they study and shall not be discriminated against on the basis of their political, ideological, or religious beliefs. Faculty and instructors shall not use their courses or their positions for the purpose of political, ideological, religious, or antireligious indoctrination.
(C) Faculty and instructors shall not infringe the academic freedom and quality of education of their students by persistently introducing controversial matter into the classroom or coursework that has no relation to their subject of study and that serves no legitimate purpose.
(D) University administrators, student government organizations, and institutional policies, rules, or procedures shall not infringe the freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and freedom of conscience of students and student organizations.
(E) The selection of speakers, allocation of funds for speakers' programs, and other student activities shall observe the principles of academic freedom and promote the presentation of a diversity of opinions on intellectual matters. Except as provided by law, the institution shall not permit the obstruction of invited campus speakers, the destruction of campus literature, or other efforts to obstruct a civil exchange of ideas.
(F) The selection of speakers, allocation of funds for speakers' programs, and other student activities shall observe the principles of academic freedom and promote the presentation of a diversity of opinions on intellectual matters. Except as provided by law, the institution shall not permit the obstruction of invited campus speakers, the destruction of campus literature, or other efforts to obstruct a civil exchange of ideas.
(G) Faculty and instructors shall be hired, fired, promoted, and granted tenure on the basis of their competence and appropriate knowledge in their field of expertise and shall not be hired, fired, promoted, granted tenure, or denied promotion or tenure on the basis of their political, ideological, or religious beliefs.
(H) Faculty and instructors shall not be excluded from tenure, search, and hiring committees on the basis of their political, ideological, or religious beliefs.
(I) The institution and its professional societies shall maintain a posture of organizational neutrality with respect to the substantive disagreements that divide researchers on questions within, or outside, their fields of inquiry recognizing that:
1. Knowledge advances when individual scholars are left free to reach their own conclusions about which methods, facts, and theories have been validated by research;
2. Academic institutions and professional societies formed to advance knowledge within an area of research, maintain the integrity of the research process, and organize the professional lives of related researchers serve as indispensable venues within which scholars circulate research findings and debate their interpretations.
SECTION 6. That the board of trustees of each institution of higher education as defined by Sec. 5, Rule IV, C of the Commission on Higher Education Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 25, series of 2003, otherwise known as the GRANT OF UNIVERSITY SYSTEM TITLE TO HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS. The ACADEMIC SENATE that holds power to pass on all academic policies for recommendation to the governing body issued under Sec. 5, Rule IV, D of the CMO No, 25 series of 2003 shall adopt a grievance procedure by which a student, a faculty member, or instructor may seek redress for an alleged violation of any of the rights specified by the institution’s policy adopted under Sec. 5 of this Act, Each board of Trustees or other governing authority shall provide students, faculty and instructors with notice of the rights and grievance procedure by publication in the institution’s course catalog, student handbook, and website.
SECTION 7. APPROPRIATE SANCTION FOR VIOLATIONS – any instructor, faculty members or educational Institution, to have committed violations of Sec. 5 and 6, after due process and hearing shall be meted with appropriate sanctions depending on the gravity of the violations:
(a) loss of status currently held
(b) Ineligibility or cancellation of grant of the institutions to be speaker on conventions, seminars and other academic related activities.
SECTION 8. SEPARABILITY CLAUSE
- It for any reason, any part or provision of this Act is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provision is not affected thereby remain in full force and effect.
SECTION 9. EFFECTIVITY CLAUSE
- This act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following its complete publication in two (2) newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines . This Act shall be posted in at least two (2) conspicuous area in all HEI’s
Approved,
Labels: education