As the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic continues, many universities in the country have proceeded with the implementation of online classes for the summer term.
Our Lady of Fatima University – Valenzuela Campus (OLFU) is no different than others. The school has conducted a Special Online Summer Term or SOST program, which is said to be completely voluntary for students who would like to minimize the loads of their subjects for the next academic year.
Despite the petition and demands initiated by the students, OLFU still released an announcement regarding the schedule for both the enrolment process and the actual SOST program. They posted on their official Facebook page, explaining the function of ‘flexible learning’ and how the students will benefit from it, without having the need to attend face-to-face classes.
It was also indicated in the same post that it would not affect a student’s status even if he/she decides not to enrol in the SOST program and same courses will likewise be offered during the 1st Semester of AY 2020-2021.
The academic institution also stated in one of its post that they “open up financial solutions that could help in some ways: school fees are approximately 30% to 35% lower than other summer terms; tuition fee credit of P1,000 for qualified students, and installment payments” as the students started flooding the post with various thoughts and queries regarding the tuition fees.
However, the University received a wave of backlash as it didn’t meet the demands of its students regarding online classes along with the refund of tuition fees and incompletion of grades from the last semester.
Our Lady of Fatima University, an inclusive academic institution, turns out to oppose its own vision of developing individuals through a legacy of excellent education and compassionate value formation.
The implemented online program by OLFU is clearly unfair to many students. Especially to those who would also like to alleviate the loads of subjects for the next academic year but are vividly deprived of money, due to the pandemic, and would not be able to afford accessible internet connection and gadgets.
Before the enrolment, which began on May 20, students who would like to enrol are required first to log in into the new student portal called Academic Information Management System or AIMS. It is a channel for online enrolment, registration, and other student services which replaces the old school automate.
Going through the first process of enrolment, which is logging in to AIMS, have been a rough and infuriating experience for many students.
According to an incoming 2nd year female Accountancy student, she felt frustrated “because accessing AIMS was such a waste of time.”
“I have to fill up the form repeatedly due to technical errors of the website. The form suddenly got deleted so I have to try again and it is really testing my patience. It even took me almost a day to finish the first step, which is only logging in to AIMS, because of the rigid system”, she relayed when asked about her experience regarding the online enrolment process.
Right after the first step, the student’s temper seems to completely run out going to the next one.
“My problem right now is that I cannot finish the whole enrolment process because the subjects that I am going to take are not appearing in the channel. I messaged my professors on Facebook for help and they have verified that the system is having a trouble and says they will take care of it”, she added.
The 2nd year Accountancy student also explained how she loathes the idea of online classes but her scholarship pushed her to enrol in the said online program.
“My scholarship last semester is 50% and it is still applicable now, then I thought it would just be wasted if I didn’t enrol. So, I gave it a go”, she stated.
Several students who have successfully accessed AIMS encountered difficulties when it came to the processing of subjects. An incoming 3rd year female Med Tech student went through the same circumstances.
“Logging in to AIMS was a piece of cake but the subjects that you are going to take isn’t that easy to find. Yet thinking of the concept of the summer term online program seems unfair to me. They have no consideration for students, especially some of my classmates who still haven’t paid last semester’s fees and still struggles to earn money. Hindi sila makakahabol agad (They can’t catch up quickly). Tapos ang mahal ng [miscellaneous] fees (Miscellaneous fees are expensive),” she mentioned as she showed this writer a screenshot of the miscellaneous fees that amounted to P4,094.
Another incoming 3rd year student from the College of Pharmacy experience to have suffered as the university’s system functioned poorly on the first day of enrolment.
“Ang bagal ng proseso nila, ang hirap gumawa ng AIMS account pero nabuksan na rin matapos ang ilang sandali. Kaso yung payment ko ay hindi pa pumapasok. Sinubukan kong kontakin ang office ng registrar gamit ang numerong ibinigay sa akin, nagrereply naman pero hindi agad agad. Kinuha lang ang student number ko tapos araw-araw ko silang kinokontak kasi yung binayad ko hindi pa rin pumapasok at nag aabang ako kung may pagbabago ba pero wala pa rin. Binigyan lang nila ako ng email address para doon ilahad ang concerns. Hanggang ngayon, wala pa ring response” she answered when asked about her experience during the enrolment.
A 3rd year female Med Tech student actually related to the same situation when she sent multiple messages to the registrar’s office asking if the process has been already done and they have only responded with a message saying, “hindi mo need tadtarin ng message na paulit ulit.. PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE,” the student remarked.
A mother who is deeply outraged because of the university’s high tuition fee and additional miscellaneous fees expressed her dismay with the university’s policy in a comment to OLFU’s Facebook post.
“Bakit kayo maniningil sa finals niyo kung simula March 16 ay wala nang pasok? Total lockdown, ibig sabihin wala ng mag-aaral, wala ng guro, wala ng gumagamit ng mga aircon at ilaw niyo. Maawa naman kayo sa mga magulang na nagpapaaral. Kaya namin sa private pinag-aaral at pinagsisikapan na makapagtapos ang aming mga anak ay para naman may maganda sana silang kinabukasan. Masyado naman kayong gigil sa pera… alam niyong lahat ng hanapbuhay naapektuhan pero hindi kayo nakakaunawa. At sa online class na ginagawa niyo, hindi lahat kaya ng mga magulang makapagpaaral sa online class dahil sa financial problems. Tapos gusto niyo, sa final tuition ay buo pa rin kayong mababayaran? Ayan, tagalan na yan para lubos niyong maunawaan” she wrote on the comment section of OLFU’s official Facebook post.
The mother of two OLFU students demanded the best for her kids just like every parent out there does, especially in quality education.
She also mentioned “kaming mga magulang, nais naming makatapos sa magandang paaralan ang aming mga anak kaya nga pinipilit namin itaguyod kahit mahirap.. kaso nga ang sitwasyon na nangyari ngayon, lalo lang nagiging mahirap” when asked about her sudden outburst in the comment section of the University’s official Facebook page.
The administration replied with a list of contact number and email address to every student who raised about facing dilemmas regarding the online enrolment process. However, students still receive passive responses from the office.
The SOST program will officially start on June 8, 2020. As the day approaches, the students are still engulfed by worry and anger since their concerns have not yet been addressed by the administration.
Upon DepEd and CHEd’s decision due to the government’s prognosis of the impact of COVID-19, the university is determined to administer online classes.
In times of uncertain happenings and challenges, the university still initiates the continuity of education which contradicts their top priorities: the safety and health of the learners.
Ensuring quality education and accessible ways for flexible learning, being the main objectives of OLFU, took a turn to a worse path. If this is the University’s strategy in providing solutions for individuals who went through a disastrous online enrollment process, then there is a distinctive possibility that the online classes might also fail in many ways.
