Makati university to accept Yolanda-affected students

MANILA, Philippines - The city government of Makati on Monday announced that a city-run university will be accepting free of charge transferees from provinces hit by super typhoon Yolanda.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay said he has directed University of Makati officials to accept "emergency transferees" from areas devastated by Yolanda even if they do not have sufficient transfer credentials.

Binay said no school fee will be collected from emergency transferees.

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 enrol at UMak now," Binay said.

Dr. Edita Chan, UMak executive vice president, said they will be accepting 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 K to 12 last year.

"Since last year, however, we have been implementing the senior high school program under K to 12, so we have no first and second year college students to date. Thus, we will be accepting students enrolled as third and fourth year," Chan said.

As for those who are in their first or second year, Chan said they could enrol in Grades 11 and 12, so-called Higher School of UMak. 

She, however, said this option may not be advisable as "displaced students would rather finish their studies the soonest time possible and afterwards find a job to be able to help their families rebuild their lives."

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 the school operations are back to normal.

Chan said 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.

Based on the report of the Department of Education, some 3,171 schools were damaged by the super typhoon and some 600,000 public school students were displaced in its aftermath.