With the Inter-agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases’ (IATF) approval of limited face-to-face classes for higher education institutions, student councils across the UP system are ironing out plans for a “genuine and safe” return to campuses.
In an emergency assembly last Dec. 11, university student councils (USC) from UP’s seven autonomous units shared developments regarding their campuses’ ongoing F2F activities.
In UP Manila, five out of seven colleges are implementing limited F2F classes in the first semester of A.Y. 2021-2022. These are the Colleges of Allied Medical Professions (CAMP), Medicine (CM), Nursing (CN), Public Health (CPh) and Dentistry.
Students participating in the on-ground setup are required to have insurance from any provider that covers COVID-19, but CM and CN students are required to avail from PhilHealth.
The Manila USC said that while it is “encouraged” that students be vaccinated against COVID-19, students from CM and CPh are required to be vaccinated against the virus.
Only CAMP and CM have confirmed that they will still conduct F2F classes in the next semester. In the College of Arts and Science, only three out of their 10 degree programs are “considered” to have in-person activities in the following semester.
While UP Manila has been holding F2F activities, other campuses are on the road to having their proposals approved by the IATF and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
Proposals sent
UP Diliman has submitted requests for F2F activities as early as 2020 but has been turned down by CHED and IATF due to a high student population. The constituent unit, which houses nearly 20,000 students, has since created an F2F Ad Hoc Committee and a Crisis Management Committee to assist in railroading plans for in-person activities.
Read: UPD revising F2F guidelines, preps inspection of campus facilities
The resulting guidelines were approved by Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo on Nov. 30, but the UPD USC called out that it did not go through proper consultation with the student body.
“Ang problema po na nakikita namin [sa approved guidelines] ay hindi po ito [nai-present] sa student body lalo na po sa mga graduate or graduating na magf-F2F classes next semester,” said Diliman USC Chairperson Jonas Abadilla. “We found this approval [by Nemenzo] very, very problematic.”
UP Los Baños (UPLB) also has an ongoing proposal for F2F classes, said University Student Council Chairperson Siegfried Severino.
“The facilities, the dormitories have been retrofitted,” Severino said, sharing that the Los Baños USC has visited the improved facilities. “Favorable ‘yung response ng [CHED] Regional Office, so we’re now awaiting the final approval ng CHED national [level] kung papayagan ang UPLB na mag-open ng classes this December or next semester.”
Severino added that more than half of the students from UPLB have been vaccinated.
Still in the works
UP Baguio, which hosts 2,667 students, has also seen high vaccination rates. Out of 2,338 respondents in a survey made by the Baguio student council, 82.29% have been vaccinated.
Despite this, UPB USC Chairperson Cheska Kapunan said the campus is yet to submit a proposal for F2F to CHED and the IATF.
“There’s still a lot to be done considering na we still do not have applications to the CHED or IATF whatsoever,” said Kapunan. “But it is a positive [development] na nakausap namin ‘yung admin namin na they’re already looking into applying and retrofitting yung mga facilities.”
The Baguio student council has since crafted a list of student demands for their safe return to schools.
On top of the list is the creation of a Ligtas Na Balik Eskwela Ad Hoc Committee that will “formulate [the] roadmap” for a safe return to classes. Kapunan underscored that the committee must consist of students, faculty and members of the administration.
Meanwhile, the UP Cebu student council has also made consultations with colleges and student formations in their F2F roadmap, which they have lobbied to the campus administration. In the emergency assembly, UP Cebu USC raised concerns on the proposed mandatory insurance and vaccinations of all individuals in UP Cebu.
“The UP Cebu admin also recently approved that we’re gonna have the technical working group for face-to-face classes,” UP Cebu student council representatives said. “After how many times na in-assert namin ‘yung pagkakaroon ng ad hoc committee sa UPC admin.”
UP Visayas also scheduled a consultation with faculty, workers’ unions and local college student councils.
Burden
UP Mindanao USC said that the call for a safe return to classes is driven by the unconducive learning spaces. They shared that the heavy workload in the online setup is “unreasonable” and “unjustifiable” when compared to the tasks in physical classes.
Their sole resident psychologist said there is at least one case of a suicidal student every day. To address the heavy burden on students, the Mindanao student council said that they are “looking into” institutionalizing their own psychosocial services (PsycServ) program.
The PsycServ program was launched in UP Diliman in 2017 but has been “stretched thin” under the remote learning setup. It is yet to be institutionalized in any UP campus.
Read: UP mental health providers stretched thin as students grow anxious over remote learning
In September, the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs found that in a survey of 9,237 students, eight in 10 were “overwhelmed” with the remote learning setup. Half of the respondents said they were “unsatisfied” with the experience.
Hinged on “countless student concerns” during the distance learning setup, the GASC passed a resolution calling for a “genuine and safe” return to schools. Student councils avowed to “exhaust all available means” in lobbying for the resumption of F2F activities.
Diliman student council chairperson Abadilla decried CHED’s lack of concrete plans for a safe return to F2F classes.
“Nagsasabi [ang CHED] a na bubuksan na ang paaralan, ngunit wala pa ring komprehensibong mga polisiya mula sa kanila,” said Abadilla. “Dapat ma-hold accountable [ang pambansang gobyerno] sa lahat ng pahirap at [sa] pabaya na sistema sa edukasyon.”
With reports by Mon Caling and Jem Torrecampo
