6 state colleges opt for mass promotion of students

MANILA, Philippines — Only six state universities and colleges (SUCs) have opted to give their students a mass promotion as the novel coronavirus pandemic continued to hinder the conduct of physical classes across all levels.

In his eighth report to Congress, President Rodrigo Duterte noted that of the 99 SUCs surveyed by the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), 91 gave numerical grades based on students’ submissions.

Only six SUCs decided to implement a mass promotion, while 79 SUCs also adopted a no failing grade policy, giving students remedial classes or one year to complete their course requirements.

The President explained that the CHEd gave higher educational institutions (HEIs) “the discretion to determine the best system for grading their students.”

Quoting the CHEd, Duterte said mass promotion presumes there was no basis for HEIs to compute the grades of the students.

“This, however, did not appear to be the case for a majority of HEIs, especially those still using the old academic calendar year of June to May, as their semesters were about to end when the enhanced community quarantine was imposed,” he said.

On the other hand, HEIs using the new academic calendar year of August to May have adopted flexible learning systems and have both the capacity and basis to give numerical grades.