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       We, the concerned students of Tacloban City are directing this petition to the Department of Education (DepEd), Leyte 1st Congressional District Office and Senate of the Philippines, through Tacloban City Schools Division as follows:

       That, with the pressing requirements needed in school, students would need to go outside their school campus to print or photocopy important papers for their respective subjects. This means students need to walk a couple of blocks from their campuses to seek relatively cheap printing service center providers. Thus, going outside the campus poses risks as students would be more vulnerable to accidents, on top of possible heat-related illnesses, etc.

       That, in addition, we cannot deny the fact that even though there are laws implementing free education, there are still miscellaneous fees that students have to pay. Hence, not all poor students could afford these. Thus, this can affect students' performance as financial pressure relatively causes stress and possible mental health impact on the students (Retrieved from https://www.lifeline.org.au/get-help/topics/financial-problems

       In fact, according to a study of the National Survey of Student Engagement in 2012, 32 percent of first-year university students and 36 percent of seniors said financial concerns interfered with their academic performance.

       Therefore, this substantiates to implement a "Free Printing Policy in School Campuses"., which some concerned students have already initiated. The implementing guidelines proposed by Jerome, K., entitled "Avail Free Printing Services in Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT)", could be benchmarked as follows:

1.      Campus personnel will be the one to handle the printing process. Students must show their IDs or Identification cards before printing to certify that he/she is a bonafide student of the school; Students are required to tell their name and their Learner Reference Number (LRN) to the handler for finalization.
2.      Students must give bond paper/s in exchange for the printing services. This is to maximize the funds for the Free Printing Policy.
3.      The quality of the printing must range from Draft to Standard only. This is to maximize the number of students that can avail free printing.
4.      The paper type must only be plain papers. Matte, Premium Glossy, and Envelope paper types are prohibited.
5.      50 pages are the limit per week of the printing services. A colored printed page is equivalent to 2 pages since it costs more than normal print or grayscale print.
6.      This policy preferably applies to public schools and state universities. However, it could also be a discretionary policy for private educational institutions.

       Also, it is suggested that Printing services must be available as early as 6:30 AM. This would be a great help for the students whose homework has not been printed yet and would need the service early especially if the assignment is for the first course or subject. 

       This will help the students, especially the marginalized people in completing their school works without spending much money. Instead of using their money for school purposes they would be able to save their money and use it for other important matters. It will also lessen the hassle towards the students going out of the school campus just to print their school projects and it could also help by keeping the students safe because they would be able to do their projects inside the school premises.        

       On behalf of all students, especially the needy and poor, we hope that this petition would be taken into consideration and implemented in due time. If this petition is put into play, students have more realistic access to their right to education as this will also alleviate them from other financial stress.

       Show your support by signing the petition.