1. The Department of Education (DepEd) issues the Reiteration of the No Collection Policy from the Parents-Teachers Association. The DepEd Order (DO) No. 41, s. 2012 entitled Revised Guidelines on the Opening of Classes, is reiterated which underscores the urgent need to minimize, if not eliminate, financial constraints among parents/ guardians during the opening of classes. Thus, this Department provides guidelines on the collection of voluntary school contributions (VSCs).
2. However, strict enforcement of this policy is not being observed with the persistent reports and questions from parents and learners. In 2015, DepEd DeTxt Action Center recorded 176 complaints about the collection of fees which was lower than in 2014 compared to the 330 reported complaints. High volume of complaints was received in March where fees for graduation were collected. Complaints also spiked up during August and September since collection of voluntary fees started in August. These reported cases were received by the DeTxt Action Center and did not include reports from the schools division and regional offices….
