WHEN it was time for Janette (not her real name) to find a big school for her daughter, Bea, she chose a traditional private school for girls. Janette had come from a traditional private school herself and like most parents, wanted to have her daughter educated in her alma mater.

However, one thing stopped her. She didn?t know if Bea would be accepted, not because she may not pass the exam but because the school might require Janette to submit a marriage certificate as preadmission requirement.

Janette had never been married.

?My other friends told me that certain Catholic schools don?t accept children whose parents are separated or are not married,? says Janette.

Rather than challenge the system, Janette looked for another private school for her daughter.

?It?s hard enough to face the everyday discrimination and judgment of being a single mother, no matter how indirect or subtle. But the possibility of being told in plain terms that my daughter would not be admitted in a school because she had one parent, instead of two, would be too much to bear. I just decided to look for another school.?

To find out if Catholic schools ban children of single parents or those whose marriage has been annulled, we checked the admission requirements of five private schools. As it turns out, Assumption College, St. Pedro Poveda College and La Salle Greenhills do not require a marriage certificate for admission.

Posing as single parent, we got in touch with the registrar?s office of these schools. The inquiry with the Assumption registrar?s office was brief. After I said I was not married, the staff confirmed that a marriage certificate was no preadmission requirement, and said, ?Yes, ma?am, we understand. It?s not a problem.?

St. Pedro Poveda College gave the same response.

An elementary school teacher at La Salle Greenhills said, ?We don?t discriminate if the kids are Christian or Muslim, or if their parents are separated or were never married. The schools must adjust to the times. In the end, it is about the child?s ability to keep up with the educational standards of the school.?

The other two private schools on our list stated on their website that a marriage certificate was a requirement.

To inquire further, I wrote the two schools saying I was a single parent and asked if this would be a problem in my child?s admission. Below was the e-mail reply of one of the schools:

?Thank you for taking an interest in XXX School. Yes, you are correct: The Marriage Certificate of parents is a requirement for admission to XXX. If you wish to apply for an exception to this policy please write to us with some details about your family situation. Or, you may call me up. Confidentiality of information is assured. Thank you.?

I called the school registrar?s office to clarify what they meant about ?writing to them about the details of my family situation.?

I was told the same thing?to write my request for reconsideration in a letter. I was not assured of admission, but was told that my case would be evaluated.

The school registrar explained that they require the parents of their students to be married in church. When asked if all the other parents were married, the registrar staff conceded that some were not, but had made a firm commitment to the school to ?get married in a church at the soonest possible time in order to comply with school policy.?

Considering how long it takes to plan a wedding, I wondered out loud what time frame qualified as ?the soonest possible time.?

The school registrar answered, ?A few months, maybe. Basta, at the soonest possible time po.?

I finally had to ask why there was such a policy. I was then told: ?We place a premium on the role of the parents in the value formation of their children. The role of the school is only secondary compared to the influence the parents have on their children. And when we say ?parents,? we mean both the mother and the father.?

I thought of the many single parents who play mom and dad to their kids, and those whose marriage has been annulled, who both continue to be active in their children?s lives, proving that you don?t need to live together to be a family.

Even before I could bring this up, the registrar explained that the school hosts a lot of family activities that require the presence of both parents.

So much for that school, the fourth of the five we were checking out.

I tried another, a private school for girls in the same area. This time I presented myself as a parent previously married in church, but is now annulled.

The reply from the school registrar: ?Oh, that would be a problem. We require the parents of our students to be married.?
I asked if that meant that my child would be denied admission solely on that basis.

?Yes. We do not accept students whose parents are separated or not married,? she said.
I then asked about other parents who may have been married at the time of their children?s admission in school, but who got separated eventually. What is the school policy on that, I asked. She was apparently stumped and put me on hold.

I overheard her ask a colleague what the school does in that situation.

She came back on the line saying that all parents of their students are still married and they do not know of any instance where the parents are separated or have gotten an annulment.
I asked, ?Could that be because admitting separation or annulment could put their kids at risk of being kicked out??

The answer was circuitous. I was given a lecture about the strong family foundation that the school values and the family vision/family formation programs which require the participation of both parents.

With such policies in place, one wonders if Janette did right to simply look for another school for her daughter.

Can schools ban children of single or separated parents?

Lawyer Raquel Aspiras- Sanchez, a partner at Aspiras & Aspiras Law Office, says, ?Among the rights of a child under the Child & Youth Welfare Code is the right to an education commensurate with his abilities and to the development of his skills.

Also, the Education Act of 1982 states that the State shall promote the right of every individual to relevant quality education, regardless of sex, age, creed, socio-economic status, physical and mental conditions, racial or ethnic origin, political or other affiliation.

?By way of implementing the Child & Youth Welfare Code and the Education Act of 1982 which, the Department of Education, Culture and Sports pursuant to DECS Order No. 103, S. 1997, ordered all private schools, elementary and secondary to discontinue practicing discriminatory acts against children, specifically in not accepting children who have single or separated parents, or those who come from broken homes for enrollment in their schools.?

Sanchez clarifies, though, that even with this order, the Department of Education has only regulatory powers?in the form of regulating tuition and maintaining educational standards?over the private schools, as they are privately funded.

?At best, it can be said that the school?s policy is questionable on the basis of the constitutional provisions and pertinent laws cited. The Department of Education is merely an administrative body. Ultimately, it is the court that can validly and finally declare if such school policy is discriminatory or arbitrary.?

So what is a parent to do? In the face of a decree that has been implemented by a body that has only regulatory and administrative powers?

?A parent may question the school?s policy and file an action in court to question the validity of the school?s admission policy on the ground that it is arbitrary, discriminatory, violative of the constitutional right to quality of education.?