The Palawan National School (PNS) on Tuesday clarified that the radio-frequency identification (RFID) card they are introducing to replace regular school IDs is not mandatory.
PNS principal Eduardo Santos said Tuesday that the school management is not forcing the students or parents to avail of the new ID system they have adopted this school year.
“Hindi totoo na mandatory. It’s up for them pa rin. Walang nagfo-force sa kanila na mag-avail ng RFID, hindi ‘yan totoo. Kung totoo ‘yan, wala na makakapasok na mga estudyante diyan,” he said.
Santos said that there are 60 to 65 percent of students from about 10,000 population of the school which have availed the new ID system.
He explained that the students who chose not to avail of the RFID cards are using the Gate 5 of the school at Manalo street.
“Kung meron man mga parent na nagsasabi na mandatory ay mga sinungaling yan, hindi yan totoo kasi sila mismo yong mga parent na hindi nag-avail siguro baka nakita nila na maganda kaya sila mismo ang nagsasabi na mag-a-avail sila pero hindi namin fino-force. Sabi ko wala naman problema kung hindi sila mag-avail kaya lang hindi talaga sila makakadaan sa gate na may RFID,” he said.
He clarified that the P600 payment for the RFID is for installment basis and payable for three months. If the parent does not have the capacity to pay the P600 for three months, paying P1000 for ten months is also an option, Santos said.
He said that most of the parents chose to pay P600 to avail of the RFID card.
He explained that if the parent has more than one student in PNS, he or she could pay the original amount and half to the remaining children enrolled in the same school.
“Kaya naging P600 yan dahil payable for three months yon kaya medyo magaan pero pwede naman na hindi bayaran basta after three months ay mabayaran mo yang P600, okay na. Pero kung P1,000, magbabayad ka for 10 months pero hindi na kinuha ng mga parents kasi mas magaan naman ang P600 for three months. Actually wala naman talaga kumuha ng P1,000 talaga,” he said.
The RFID was distributed to most of the students on Tuesday morning and they have undergone the dry run to familiarize themselves on how to use the new ID system, Santos said.
