UP Board of Regents OKs plea of 27 graduating students
THE University of the Philippines (UP) Board of Regents (BOR) sided with the petition of the 27 students to allow them to graduate on Thursday.
Nine regents out of 11 voted in favor of the students’ request on Tuesday, Student Regent Neill John Macuha told INQUIRER.net.
The students, all taking BA Communication, have completed the required units for their courses. However, they were informed on May 19 that they took the wrong general education subjects.
The students were supposed to use a new curriculum checklist, a document where all subjects for the course are indicated, as mandated by the Revitalized General Education Program (RGEP) implemented in 2011. Instead, they were provided with an old curriculum checklist.
Officials from UP Baguio’s College of Arts and Communication have admitted their lapses and urged the UP administration to allow the students to graduate.
However, the UP Baguio’s University Council voted against the proposal to waive the GE subject requirements of the affected students. The students elevated their petition to the Board of Regents, the highest policy-making body of the university, on June 15.
In an interview, UP Baguio Department of Communication Chairperson Dr. Jimmy Fong maintained that it was not the students’ fault.
“Natutuwa kami at nagpapasalamat kami kay President [Alfredo] Pascual at sa Board of Regents sa pag-appreciate sa aming appeal sa 27 estudyante. Hindi kasalanan ng mga estudyante na nakaligtaan nila yung mga subjects (We are happy and we are thankful to President Pascual and the Board of Regents for responding to the appeal of the 27 students. It is not the students’ fault that they did not take the prescribed subjects),” Fong said.
The voting of the regents was done through a referendum instead of a sit-down meeting.
The graduation of UP Baguio students will be held on Thursday at the Baguio Convention Center.
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