We, the students, in the face of an outbreak and great lockdown, are left with no other alternative thus we are compelled to shift to online classes wherein we have to comply with the academic loads that are excessive and almost impossible to finish; to meet deadlines that are unreasonable, and to take exams that are in no way fair and proper. In worst situations, some students are forced to be virtually present in scheduled online classes regardless of the difficulties affecting their personal lives and families—because attendance is a must.
The outbreak is already extreme enough for the students but with the uncompassionate move of some institutions by urging a “new normal” in education, this puts our learning environment under a severe impairment and our educators have left us into solitude, anxious of the uncertainty it brings.
In opposition to the implementation of online classes during this pandemic and the non-response of our institutions, we are addressing our grievances to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as well as the public, to endorse the petitions made by the student councils. We are absolutely convinced that the protocols on online classes and task delegations are unfitting and hefty in these trying times.
Ateneo de Manila University manifested a bold move by mass promoting its students and refunding their tuition, which was consistent with the mission and vision of Jesuit education: considerate, humane, and compassionate. The students were their bedrock in making a decision and it’s not surprising how this made the protests of students from other schools who are not accorded the same considerations even more audible.
At the center of the students’ plea for empathy, is the call for inclusivity. Dismissing students as “crybabies” and assuming all students have access to the internet and digital apparatuses is plain indifference. Others have initiated a survey in order to bring about real data behind the students’ access to online platforms, but that is not even representative of the minority. Needless to say, this neglects the difficulty of a stable connection, being forced to go outside to buy data from kiosks available, spending all their money on expensive mobile loads, and dealing with the difficulty of finding sources and materials. This spells out how some decisions are decontextualized from the actual situation of the students. Moreover, students are being forced to keep up with the institutions’ decisions that are not even in line with their resources and capacities.
Students are finding it difficult to freely express their views because some are threatened or prevented from doing so in the name of a deceptive student agreement. Some institutions are even asking students to settle their matriculation accounts in the midst of a crisis discarding families who are also faced with unanticipated fiscal matters.
Students should not be begging on their knees for an education that is supposed to be indiscriminating and have the development of their full potential at heart. We insist on appealing against educators and school administrators who continue to express apathetic statements towards the depressing experiences of some students, and call on them to provide students the appropriate support they need.
Because of this, we decided to initiate a campaign to extend and inform the public about the plight of the students dwelling from different situations.
On Monday of April 18, we launched a grievance testimonial that gathered the sentiments and urgent needs of the students who are looking for a platform to enliven their predicaments. Together with our friends and allies, and supporting student-pro organizations and advocates, we communicate our sentiments grounded from the real situations of students.
We, the students, in expressing our views and grievances with regards to our situation, are guaranteed “freedom of speech, expression, the press, and to peaceably assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances” (Article III, Section 4) by the Philippine Constitution.
Therefore, we shall not be repressed from expressing our testimonies and complaints. We have the right to be heeded, the right to complain when our health and wellbeing are at risk, and the right to call out coercion and threat inflicted upon us. Some students are being pressed in any way of defamation preventing them from truthful expression.
We have gathered receipts, proof to support the testimonies synthesized above. This is only representative of a small population of student grievances, including those who do not have access to the internet. The following are some of the findings and recommendations we have deduced from the responses in the grievance testimonial:
Mass promote students now. No students should be left behind.
With this campaign and with the participation of random local and foreign students, we had garnered a glimpse of various official announcements from different universities and colleges and how these schools had dealt with the academic concerns in the midst of a health crisis. These respondents come from private and state universities.
Listen and negotiate with students.
Similarities can also be seen on how students from different universities and colleges urged their administrations to mass promote or end the semester. However, the majority of the respondents’ institutions have pushed through with the online classes and delegation of requirements (mostly excessive and unresourceful ones).
Some educators and colleges have initiated to mass promote their students while some others are dependent on the protocols laid down by their administrators with no allowances for discretion.
Students have the right to freedom of expression and freedom of thought especially if decisions involve their physical and mental health.
The grievances also revealed various accounts of students and the realities of the education sector during this enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). Some of the struggles students face range from mental health issues, fiscal matters to risk of physical safety as some relatives of students and even themselves are suspected of the disease so these prevent them from focusing on their academic obligations.
Show empathy, sympathy and compassion to students.
Students who are underprivileged and are having difficulty accessing online classes and requirements are testified by their fellow students to be true and disturbing. Fellow students are also concerned for other students who are experiencing illnesses and COVID-related symptoms.
Modify necessary bridging programs.
It has also been expressed that students from skill-specific and other programs find it difficult to comply with the online requirements, as they have very limited resources given that the ECQ is still ongoing.
This “new normal” that regularizes education amidst the ill-suited situation should not be insisted because it is demoralizing to students and educators alike. Furthermore, education should be inclusive ensuring that all students will have access to it.
Education was never designed to be snobbish. It fashions, in all its wholeness, a naked value free from indifference, elitism, oppression, and discrimination. Education is expensive in a sense that learning is its child, valued without a price. Education is vital in that it goes beyond the limits of books or lectures or mathematical problems, and proceeds to immerse in the actual platform of education—everyone’s classroom is the real world, real situations.
And now, we see the staging of education and learners at the storm of an outbreak. Learners and teachers are suddenly thrown into the atypical, striking them with frightening unfamiliarity. It is at this very moment that they are facing reality within a hand’s reach, like a pop quiz, where everything is suddenly on their feet, unprepared and dazzled, confused and disarrayed. Indeed, the outturns of this pandemic to education and the state of mental health of the community of learners are alarming.
Our final call, together with student councils, and student-related organizations, is for our petitions to be addressed seriously. We defend our right and duty to elevate the concerns of our fellow students and finally to preserve the value of education not only limited in classrooms and books, but are extended to our current situation.
#MassPromotionNow
#NoStudentShallBeLeftBehind
