16/11/2020
[ππππ ππ§π’ππ² ππππππ¦ππ§π]
Greetings of Solidarity!
We, the undersigned heads of organizations, demand for the UP administration to end the current semester, taking into account the consecutive natural calamities which have affected several areas in Luzon in recent weeks. We call on the UP administration to commit to its mission of ensuring no student is left behind and to exercise true compassion for students and faculty to prioritize their physical and mental well-being without the anxiety caused by non-fulfillment of academic requirements.
After Typhoons Quinta and Rolly ravaged through the southern portion of Luzon during the reading break, another typhoon, Ulysses, swept through most of the already-devastated areas the following week, especially in the Bicol and CALABARZON regions. In addition, residents of Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon also experienced intense flooding after the rainfall forced dams to release large volumes of water to avoid overflow. At least 1,520 engineering students live in the affected areas with most, if not all, experiencing widespread power outage, connectivity issues, and loss of property and family members. In turn, these limit, if not totally restrict, both students and faculty from attending to their academic responsibilities.
Those indirectly affected by these events are also put in an awkward state. Academic stakeholders find it difficult to continue with the current semester, establishing a sense of solidarity with those who are unable to accomplish their academic workload. Faculty members are also having a difficult time in adjusting their course requirements within the remaining time allotted to accommodate those who cannot comply with deadlines due to the aforementioned reasons.
While all of these events are unfolding, the national government is seemingly absent and unresponsive to the pleas of local government units and their constituents whose response teams and funds have already been stretched thin by the ongoing pandemic. Private groups and individuals are now augmenting these government lapses, through launching donation drives and relief operations to the affected areas.
At times like these, safety and survival should be utmost priority. As Iskolar ng Bayan, our mandate should go beyond the four walls of the virtual classroom and further extend to the people to whom we owe the privilege of our education. While we welcome the Universityβs decision to declare November 16 to 21 as a βrecovery weekβ, we believe that it could only do so much, and could only temporarily ease the burden of those affected. We are not assured that after this week-long break, students and faculty in the affected areas will be able to adjust and cope with their academic backlogs. Rather, this policy could only cause them to lag further behind their peers. We appreciate this ounce of compassion afforded to us, but it would not suffice.
We reiterate our mandate as representatives of our organizations to protect the interests and welfare of the students, even those outside of our organizations. We demand that students and faculty, especially those in typhoon-hit areas, will be allowed to prioritize their safety and well-being over compliance with academic responsibilities without fear of repercussions. It is in times like these that we could fully exhibit our compassion towards our constituents.
Recognizing this, The Engineering Alliance of Student Leaders demands that the UP administration halt all academic activities and end the semester now! In line with this, we call on the UP administration to:
>Give a grade of βPβ with an option to request for a numerical grade if deemed necessary;
>Ensure the proper preparation and implementation of bridging programs for core subjects;
>Take accountability for its lack of preparation for the implementation of remote learning in the first semester and address all student and faculty concerns through consultations before the second semester starts; and
>Suspend the collection of tuition and other school fees, and refund unused tuition and OSFs to help students, especially affected students, with their financial needs.
If we donβt demand an overhaul of the current system and let it continue, we put ourselves in a limbo of academic burnout, which can be counter-productive to achieving our goal of delivering a nationalist, scientific, and mass-oriented education for all and having no student left behind.
Ultimately, the engineering community, alongside the UP community, condemns the Duterte administrationβs mishandling of the social, political, economic, and health crises we face today. The Duterte regime has provided no effective solutions to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and no efficient and timely response to the onslaught of Typhoons Quinta, Rolly, Siony, and Ulysses. We stand in solidarity with all efforts to hold Duterte and all those in power accountable for outright criminal negligence of their duties as public servants.
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