Hey guys ! I just want to know if it legal or valid to all school to impose compulsary to all student to join the field trips? and if a cetain student is unable to join the said field trip for finacial reason, does the school have the right to collect the said contribution (amount) for field trip during obtaining clearance for graduation or recognitions.

(edited title - admin)

Hello geff70 and welcome to EduPhil.org.

Educational field trips are covered by DepEd Order No. 52, s. 2003, which is supplemental to DECS Order No. 56, s. 2001 and DepEd Order No. 51, s. 2002. DepEd Order No. 56, s. 2003, was reiterated in DepEd Order No. 87, s. 2003.

DepEd Order No. 56, s. 2001 explicitly stated,

Quote:3. Recognizing, however that such trips involve certain monetary costs which may be unaffordable to students coming from poor families and who therefore are not able to join, teachers should refrain from conducting tests based on these field trips. Should it be decided that tests will be held based on these field trips, students who were unable to join such trips should not be penalized; they shall be given special tests or assignments as substitutes for not joining the field trip.

The intent of this provision is clear: the student has an option not to join the field trip, for whatever the reason, including, but possibly not limited to, the monetary costs. Take note, however, that DepEd Order No. 56, s. 2001 was in reference to public schools.

In DepEd Order No. 52, s. 2003, there was an implicit inclusion of private schools, as indicated in the header of the order, which now includes "Heads, Public and Private Elementary and Secondary School Principals". In this order, it is stated that

Quote:f. As much as possible, field trips should not put an additional financial burden on the parents. Possible sponsors or other sources can be tapped for the purpose.

I am attaching DepEd Order No. 52, s. 2003 (which also includes the other two orders) in this post, so that you can look at the full text of the three orders yourself.

As far as I can discern from the two orders, it is obvious that a school, whether public or private, could not impose as compulsory to all students the collection of a fee for outings and field trips. That is the intent of the paragraph 3 in DepEd Order No. 56, s. 2001 (explicitly covers only public schools) and paragraph f in DepEd Order No. 52, s. 2003 (implicitly covers public and private schools). I was not able to locate any relevant jurisprudence on this though; what I would suggest is you talk to your school principal or school head, and show him a printout of these orders (plus my interpretation, if you want). If he/she refuses to bulge, you can raise the issue to the next higher authority, either to the school board (in a private school) or the District Head (for public schools).

Please do tell us the result of your actions, so that we can document cases like this, and we can guide others in the future. Thank you very much.

thanks guys its a big help on my side as well as for the parents that dont have the idea regarding this.. thanks a lot and more power....

You're welcome. If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask it here... If I know the answer, I'll share what I know

Field trips help students interact with what they are learning.It will be potential to open up a new learning experience for students.It is a journey by a group of people to a place away from their normal environment.

(03-16-2009 06:08 PM)admin Wrote:  You're welcome. If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask it here... If I know the answer, I'll share what I know

hi.. I'm Princess Lalwani, Sangguniang Kabataan Chairperson of Barangay Quiot. We have been planning to sponsor the educational field trip of the public elementary school situated in our barangay. We just have a concern though because the principal told us that it cannot be done on the weekday/s and the cebu city service buses can only be used on the weekdays. We planned to get a copy of such memo/order stating that educ trips cannot be done on the weekdays... the principal doesn't have a copy... i tried searching via google but i have not found any... i hope you can help us with this matter...

@prinstela: The latest pronouncement from DepEd, AFAIK, regarding field trips, is DepEd Memorandum No. 529, s. 2009 (December 16, 2009), which is just a reiteration of the previous policies, aside from now explicitly including private schools in its coverage. Never in these policies is it stated that field trips cannot be conducted during weekdays. Nevertheless, DepEd Cebu City might have issued its own guidelines re field trips, which might have required that it should not be allowed during weekdays. Finally, even if DepEd Cebu City did not issue such policy, certainly the principal of the school has the authority to decide whether or not to allow his/her students to go out on a field trip during weekdays. In other words, it seems to me that you cannot compel the principal to allow you to have a field trip for the students.

Try requesting the principal again, perhaps attaching a printout of this page in your request. In my experience, public school principals just have the best interests of their wards, the students, in their mind. You have to understand that whatever happens to the students within class hours (sometimes even right before and right after class hours) are ALWAYS blamed on the principal, even if the principal does not have anything to do with it. This is true even if (esp. if?) the activity was done outside of school but during school hours.

You might want to enter into a specific memorandum of agreement regarding the field trip with the principal, in such a manner that you would accept all responsibility for the students during the time of the field trip.

(06-26-2010 12:54 PM)admin Wrote:  You might want to enter into a specific memorandum of agreement regarding the field trip with the principal, in such a manner that you would accept all responsibility for the students during the time of the field trip.

I'm just curious Sir admin. If this MOA transpires, would this really exonerate the principal from any culpability in case untoward incident may happen to the students during the trip? I am not sure if the responsibility can be waived with this arrangement since I suppose it still is a curricular activity. This is similar to a waiver signed by the parents so the child can join the field trip. I heard this waiver thing is not admissible in courts? Can you enlighten me? Thanks

@edukador: You reminded me of my Legal Writing and Research article on the liability of teachers for the quasi-delicts of their students.

I might be wrong, but what I understood is that what cannot be waived is responsibility for future negligence. The waiver of responsibility recognizes that there are things which are beyond the control of the school administration and therefore the parents cannot hold the administration responsible.

(07-01-2010 09:25 AM)admin Wrote:  @edukador: You reminded me of my Legal Writing and Research article on the liability of teachers for the quasi-delicts of their students.

I might be wrong, but what I understood is that what cannot be waived is responsibility for future negligence. The waiver of responsibility recognizes that there are things which are beyond the control of the school administration and therefore the parents cannot hold the administration responsible.

Thanks Sir admin. Im still confused though with the strength of waivers for field trips. That is why in our school, not all field trips are permitted. AFIK, only those filed trips that are clearly stipulated in the syllabus are given a go. BTW, my school is a public TEI.

Edit: Your assignment is englightening. Flat 1 dapat grado ana. Thanks. It's a good read.