Written by Jhoana Fidel
Visuals by Jayvee Fulgencio
Two and a half semesters later, the topic of class suspension is still under the deep dark sea.
Noting that the students of University of Santo Tomas are scattered across the country, it should be emphasized that the suspension of classes will now not be based on where the campus is located. But if so, who will decide? What will be the basis of all the decisions?
On October 25, after Manila City Mayor Isko Moreno declared suspension of classes due to typhoon Quinta, Fr. Jesus Miranda Jr., O.P. ,Secretary General, announced that class suspensions in the university will be decided by each faculty, college, or institute. This is followed by the Engineering dean, Prof. Philipina Marcelo’s clarification that the faculty will comply with the Mayor’s office announcement.
Imagining that while the chain of command is all confused who to decide on the suspension, a student could be saving the family’s furniture caused by flooding, or rebuilding his/her home from dust, a professor could be taking care of a family member diagnosed with COVID 19, or maybe fighting the disease himself.
But as much as we want a quick decision on the matter, we cannot put blame on the UST administration and Commission on Higher Education (CHED). Because if they cannot base class suspensions on the campus's geographical profile, where should they? And how will the universities and colleges maintain its standards whilst considering every student’s situation?
The truth is, there is no book in this, there will never be. But there’s one thing we can do, and believe it or not, the internet has been rubbing it on our faces all this time—“be fluid”.
Surely, we all learned to be a little more dynamic amid the quarantine year. And this is (hopefully) the temporary way to shed light in the dark that has been the decision-making process regarding suspensions is. This all means more considerate professors, more academically self disciplined students, and compassionate university administration. We may be swimming on our own, but we all belong to one water.
Typhoons are no news to Filipino students, it has become a part of our academic journey, really. But none of these are normal anymore. We can't even get together for lunch after going through a rough exam day, for crying out loud.
But with all the uncertainty and fluidity that’s been going on, the 2004 Academy Award winner will remind us that no matter how dark and deep this sea is, all we should do is to just keep swimming.
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