Kagman High School principal Alfred A. Ada said their students made the move because of the high fee that the only driving school here charges.
“As we know, the economy in the CNMI has been struggling for quite some time now and $350 is a lot of money to put into a driver’s license and could very well be used for purchasing food and other basic needs,” Ada wrote to Rep. Raymond D. Palacios, Covenant-Saipan, who chairs the House Committee on Education.
Ada and the students are asking the committee to support Senate Bill 17-20 which calls for the suspension of the mandatory driver education prerequisite of Public Law 15-25, or the Mandatory Driver Education Act of 2006, among high school students in the CNMI, or those between the ages of 15 to 18.
The same bill, however, also contains provision that will compel the Public School System to introduce a driver’s education program instead of sending the high school students to a privately run driving school.
PSS is strongly opposed to this provision due to concerns to potential liability among students and the driving instructors as well as the resources involved in offering the program.
Marianas High School principal Karen Borja, in a separate letter, told Palacios that although she agrees with the intent of P.L. 15-25 to make the highways and roads in the CNMI safer, there are certain things that must be examined.
Borja said there is only one driving school on the islands and its fee of $350 per student is “exorbitant.”
She added that the policy is not equitable because the driving school requirement is not imposed on Tinian and Rota students.
“I do hope that Public Law 15-25 shall be temporarily suspended until such time that the Department of Public Safety establishes a student driver program. However, I am opposed to the idea that the Public School System be authorized to establish this program unless adequate funding is provided,” Borja said.
“We are in severe economic times, where adequate funding is not provided for Marianas High School. To burden the school with another initiative without funding is ludicrous, lacking poor judgment and foresight,” she added.
