Options for Mandaue college students

With the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) coming down hard on him, it’s up to Dr. Paulus Cañete, president of the embattled faction of the Mandaue City College (MCC), to decide whether to give up and allow his students to transfer to the MCC recognized by education authorities or battle it out in court.

Right now his options are severely limited. There seems to be nowhere for him and his students to turn after the Professional Regulation Commission issued a memorandum barring Cañete’s MCC graduates from taking licensure exams.

Given those odds, shouldn’t it it be the most practical option for him to yield and allow at least 20 students who finished an education degree to work out an arrangement with Ched for them to take the board exam next month?

Cañete is in a bind. Some classes in his MCC were even held at the lobby of the Eversley Childs Sanitarium and Hospital.

Students continue to enroll in Cañete’s MCC out of sheer loyalty or because of its lower tuition compared to the MCC headed by Dr. Susana Cabahug which the Mandaue city government and Ched officially recognize.

The problem is Cañete won’t give up without a fight, which he is now waging at the Regional Trial Court.

The same mind-set seems to be adopted by the students who have become defiant along with Cañete against the Ched’s warning.

The ones at a real loss are the students and their families who invested years and hard-earned money on their education.

We hope influential quarters can intercede and convince the students to transfer to an accredited school—not necessarily the other MCC faction headed by Cabahug—and work out an arrangement with education officials so they can take the licensure exams in time.

The Mandaue city government has offered to intercede on behalf of the students by paying for whatever tuition they may incur as well as facilitate the accreditation of their studies with Ched.

Rather than being caught in a dispute with Cañete, city and Ched officials should reach out to the students through their parents.

There is still time, albeit a very short period, for education and Mandaue City officials to make things right for the graduating students.

In this regard, Cañete should not stand in the way of these students being allowed to take the exams.

We understand politics is at the core of the MCC dispute, but that shouldn’t be used to deny graduating students a shot at a better future for themselves.