04/02/2023
MOVE THE SEMESTER! EXPAND STUDENT SERVICES! REVIEW ACADEMIC GUIDELINES!
Just less than a week prior to the resumption of classes, UP Baguio students are faced with various challenges brought by the sudden shift of the start of the second semester to February 6, a week earlier than the anticipated date. Aside from this, there are at least 63 cases of scholastic delinquency of students who were notified just days before the enrollment period, and 60 applicants at UP BREHA dormitory who were rejected from their application, including those who have been residents of the dormitory in the previous months. All these concerns are now being left as a burden on the students’ part, and the women youth are being directly affected by these.
The issues that the UPB community is facing right now are results of the UP Baguio admin’s long negligence to the calls and current circumstances faced by the student body. At the start of the AY 2022-2023, the whole university constituent was under a transition period from a fully online setup to hyflex mode of learning. Students and their families then, were still struggling to recover from the repercussions brought by the pandemic. But even during that time, the admin still decided to lift academic ease policies, instead pre-pandemic policies were put into effect. In the context of the abrupt adjustment of the academic calendar for the second semester, many students are still looking for long-term accommodations. The 3-week break between the semesters is insufficient for students to rest, look for accommodation, prepare and move in to Baguio. Many are still troubled by their financial circumstances and still cannot afford to move in to boarding houses considering the current economic crisis in the country which affects mostly the lower and the middle classes—where the majority of the UPB population are part of. This concern is in connection with the rejection of students’ application at the UP BREHA, who are now being forced to look for accommodation in just one week—a place that is at least four times their expected monthly budget.
The call to move the semester stems from the very decision-making process of the UPB admin. It is ironic that they were excluded in the decision and policy-making process of the university. In every decision made by the university whether in the context of basic services or academic policies, the administration MUST first consult with the population most affected by these —its constituents. It is their responsibility to first know and assess how their students and faculty are coping with the transition. However, since there was no consultation made prior to the students and faculty, there is no basis for the policies and decisions that were laid down to us by the university’s administration. Such decisions are manifestations of their blatant disregard and lack of consideration to individual and even collective concerns of the students.
If these incidents were assessed and considered by the administration per se, they would have made appropriate decisions and policies, and realized that the policies which they are imposing are truly anti-democratic and anti-student. The UPB admin owes its constituents an explanation and they must be held accountable for all the students who are being left behind.
With all these, the IGY UPB is one with the UP Baguio community in demanding UP Baguio admin to heed the calls of its constituents by: 1) moving the semester to give the students and faculty enough time to adjust to the full face-to-face learning setup; 2) expanding student services to address the basic needs of the students and to urgently address problems in scarcity of resources, financial capacity, and accommodation; 3) reviewing the efficiency and suitability of the university policies specifically the academic guidelines in full consideration of the transition period, and to evaluate the decision and policy-making process of the administration which directly affects the students and the faculty. IGY UPB believes that UP must be a university of and for the people, hence, it must be democratic, compassionate, and it must serve the best interest of its people. If the UP Baguio admin remains indifferent and fails to involve its constituent in decision-making processes, it is in no doubt that more issues concerning the students and their democratic rights will arise in the future.
