PMI students protest closure of 2 programs

Students of the Philippine Maritime Institute or PMI Colleges are protesting the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHEd) decision to close down two substandard courses at the school, contending that the institution has maintained its quality and continues to produce qualified graduates.

Randy Padilla, a student council official, said CHEd’s closure order covering the marine transportation and marine engineering programs at PMI’s Manila and Quezon City campuses has caused panic among students who are now at a loss on how to continue their studies.

“Some parents have refunded tuition while other students don’t know how they could continue their studies.  CHEd has no idea how hard it is to transfer schools,” said Padilla, student council chair for Marine Transportation.

CHEd last week ordered the closure of the two PMI courses after they were found noncompliant with quality standards. The commission asked current students to continue their studies in other maritime schools with the same courses, offering assistance in their transfer.

At PMI, the order affects between 10,000 and 12,000 students enrolled in the two courses in both campuses, Padilla told the Inquirer.

Asked if they were willing to continue studying in a school deemed to be of poor quality, Padilla said: “For us students, we have no problem with quality… Our graduates continue to excel.”

Padilla said that other maritime schools were more expensive than PMI. For instance, a year’s tuition for Padilla, a graduating student, costs P7,800.

He added that CHEd has not delivered on its promised assistance to affected students.

But CHEd Executive Director Julito Vitriolo stood by the commission’s closure order, saying the school has failed quality standards in the two courses since evaluations in 2006.

“Based on our inspection, there have been many deficiencies in the school since 2006, in terms of administration, faculty, laboratories,” Vitriolo said when reached for comment.

“We took action instead of causing problems on future seafarers who might not be accepted because of their qualifications,” he added.

He said CHEd has also ordered other maritime schools to accept PMI transfer students “even without the necessary documents.”

CHEd has initiated a crackdown on substandard courses, shutting down programs in certain schools that have poor ratings in licensure exams, poor facilities and overall poor student and faculty performance.