Admit transferees from Marawi, CHED asks schools

MANILA, Philippines - All public and private colleges and universities have been asked to accept transferees from Marawi City even if they do not have complete admission requirements.

The Commission on Higher Education will issue an advisory asking all schools to admit students displaced by the fighting in Marawi,  CHED Commissioner Prospero de Vera III told a press briefing at Malacañang yesterday.

“This is like what we did in the case of (Super Typhoon) Yolanda. We issued an advisory to the schools that they should accept transferees even with incomplete records. Immediately accept them in light of the problem that we are encountering in Marawi... The records can come later,” said De Vera.

He said CHED would coordinate with the schools to facilitate the transfer of Marawi students to other schools.

De Vera said there is no compelling reason not to accept the students, noting that they see the situation as temporary. The students may go back to their schools once the situation normalizes, he said.

“We received reports that some parents who were trying to transfer their students... were a little bit hedging because they didn’t know how to deal with it. The issuance of an advisory will solve that problem,” De Vera said. 

He said CHED officials would also assist professors from Marawi who want to transfer to other universities.

Meanwhile, De Vera said he sees no significant disruption during the opening of classes at the Mindanao State University in Marawi and Iligan in August. 

Clashes between government troops and Maute terrorists, which started on May 23, has displaced more than 320,000 people.