UP to start classes in August

The Oblation on UP Diliman campus INQUIRER PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines —This year, all “Iskolar ng Bayan” from the premier state university will start their classes in August.

This after the University of the Philippines (UP) Board of Regents, the highest policy-making body, on Friday approved the academic calendar shift for its campus in Diliman, according to the College of Mass Communication’s student publication “Tinig ng Plaridel.”

All UP campuses will hold their classes from August to July, from the June to May schedule, UP also said on its website.

In its February 6 meeting, the BOR approved the shift in the academic calendars of UP Manila, UP Los Baños, UP Baguio, UP Visayas, UP Mindanao, UP Open Univeristy, and UP Cebu College. That time, UP Diliman has yet to conduct its referendum.

The country’s top universities synchronized their calendars with their counterparts in Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the region’s partner nations supposedly for internationalization in the months leading up to the Asean economic integration next year.

The BOR made the decision after the UP Diliman University Council (UC) meeting backed the calendar shift from June to August with a vote of 284-164.

“The decision to shift the academic calendar is part of the continuing efforts of UP to develop into a regional and global university and to maximize the opportunities offered by Asean integration and global educational partnerships,” UP president Alfredo Pascual said in a statement.

In a referendum organized by the UP Diliman Chancellor from February 24-26, 70 percent of 954 faculty members voted for the calendar shift. Also, 76 percent wanted to implement it on August 2014.

Among the colleges in UP Diliman that supported the shift are the College of Law (100 percent), School of Labor and Industrial Relations (100 percent), Marine Science Institute (95 percent), School of Statistics (94 percent), Asian Institute of Tourism (91 percent), and the Colleges of Human Kinetics (91 percent), Architecture (87 percent), Engineering (86 percent), and National College of Public Administration and Governance (83 percent).

The Commission on Higher Education said it does not advise the calendar shift, one of which due to climate consideration.

The commission added that internationalization, used by proponents to justify the shift, does not necessarily follow with changing the academic calendar.

Activists also slammed the academic shift, noting that the BOR should prioritize budget cuts that hound the state university.

Besides UP, Ateneo De Manila University also shifted their calendar shift to August-May starting 2015. Meanwhile, the University of Santo Tomas would start their classes in July this year.

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