Makati to accept students from typhoon areas

MANILA, Philippines - The Makati City government yesterday said it is ready to accept student transferees from areas ravaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda to the city-owned University of Makati (UMak) free of charge.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay said he had directed UMak officials to accept “emergency transferees” from areas devastated by the typhoon even if they do not have sufficient transfer credentials, since majority of the schools and homes were damaged.

Binay said no tuition will be collected from them. UMak collects a token fee of P1,000 from Makati residents and P3,000 from non-Makati residents for every semester.

“We want to help displaced college students resume their normal school activities as soon as possible to enable them to recover faster from their traumatic experience. Many of them may already be here in Metro Manila living with relatives, so we would like to offer them the chance to enroll at UMak now,” Binay said.

Edita Chan, executive vice president of UMak, said they will accept transferees who are in their third and fourth years in college since the university has scrapped the enrolment for freshman year with the implementation of the K to 12 program  last year.

As for those who are in their first or second year, Chan said they have the option to enroll in Grades 11 and 12.

Transferees will be asked to present a certification from any official of their respective schools. Those who cannot present said document or have no records available at this time may be enrolled on probationary status for at least one semester, subject to verification when school operations are back to normal.

Applicants for transfer will undergo an interview and asked to go over the course syllabus to check which subjects they have already taken, and will be given the option to shift courses, said Chan.