Editorial
Editor’s note: The article has been edited for clarity. Our comment on freezing or restarting the semester has been expanded.
Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila University has won the hearts of many after implementing a mass promotion policy, passing all students this second semester “except those who have WP marks” (i.e. those who dropped out from a course). Meanwhile, the University of the Philippines (UP) System is yet to make a decision on whether to implement a similar policy in a Presidential Advisory Council (composed of UP executives) meeting slated for tomorrow, April 13.
But what should UP do? Do we conduct graded online classes or not? We’ll go with the Ateneans on this one for two main reasons.
Firstly, graded and mandatory online classes are unfair. Only those who have access to a reliable internet connection and live in a conducive home environment will benefit from such classes. What about those in unfortunate circumstances? What about those who do not have internet access, who are primarily caring for their family, who are struggling with finances, who are worrying about food, or who are dealing with mental health issues?
Yes, we can leave their grades blank for now, waive prerequisite policies and allow them one year to submit requirements. That’s the kindest we can do. But still that means that they have an entire semester to complete alongside the regular courses. Nobody should have to juggle that much stress and anxiety. Worse, if prerequisities are not waived at all, those without access will automatically be delayed. Such a system is highly unfair. Whereas some would relatively learn remotely from the comfort of their homes, others will have to struggle more than necessary – and not on their own fault – to get the same credentials. We should not accept such a skewed policy.
Secondly, we are facing a global crisis. We are not staying at home because we suddenly love flex-time policy or because we’re trying to avoid getting skin cancer. We are not enjoying a vacation here. People are dying. We are under a forced lockdown. We are all worried about our safety and scared of necessities running out.
Do we have to debate among ourselves whether we’re in an academically conducive environment or not with all pressures upon us? And a follow-up to that, do we really think that it’s okay to potentially send 5.00’s or DRP’s (both of which can delay the student) to people during this period? The priority right now is not academics. In fact, graded requirements (even in a pass-fail or pass-drop scenario) will only contribute more stress and anxiety. And this applies too to the professors who have their own families to take care of.
So then what should we do instead? Well, first and foremost, we should not forget that these are not normal times. In other words, we should not expect to be accomplishing the same things as before the outbreak. “Business as usual” is a dream during this pandemic. In crafting a policy, we translate this to mean that we have to make sacrifices and consider the shift in priorities. Graded online classes do not subscribe to this fact because these measures persist to maintain the status quo and fail to recognize the new priorities. The priority right now is everyone’s health and sanity. Graded requirements can challenge that priority in these trying times. Instead, to respect that priority, we sacrifice the potential academic achievements we might accomplish with online classes, and we propose that the semester should end immediately with mass promotion. There is no shame in taking the two months before the lockdown to be enough. It is the sympathetic thing to do.
We suggest that the semester should end with mass promotion rather than resume or restart at some later date mainly because the latter implies an extension of stay in UP. There will be an extension because it is unlikely that we can return to UP immediately after the lockdown is lifted. We probably should not return to UP at least until August. Models show that a rebound outbreak could occur once mitigation strategies are lifted, and so experts suggest that these strategies be kept in place until a vaccine is ready which will take at least several months (but this is already hopeful because the earliest projected date of vaccine distribution is early 2021). So it’s very unlikely that a resumption or restart will finish just in time before the new academic calendar. Going “back to normal” soon could spell disaster.
But what’s wrong about an extension? The short answer is that it is costly and the costs are probably unnecessary at least for some people. While we could ensure that free tuition would be provided during that extension, we cannot do the same for living expenses. For less privileged students, one more semester means a few months more of making ends meet, while the matter of fact is that they could use that time to earn money after graduation. The arguments for an extension are mainly academic, but again, we posit that academic achievements are not as important as it was before the outbreak.
Of course, with mass promotion, the immediate comment might be that people will be less prepared or completely unprepared for the succeeding courses, especially those that are “post-requisites” of this semester. This can only be fixed with online classes or extensions, right? Not at all for the reasons above and because they’re not the only way to ameliorate students’ lack of adequate preparation. And besides, online classes cannot replace in-person classes like P.E. and lab courses so we will have to resort to a different solution anyway.
Considering that an extension (i.e. restarting or freezing the semester) is costly, one thing we can do instead after mass promotion is to adjust the syllabi of next semester’s courses and teach the requisite knowledge as the need arises. This will be difficult for sure. But if we can cram an entire semester’s worth of classes into one midyear term, then surely we can try to make it work. We can also consider conducting bridging programs, workshops or crash courses upon resumption of in-person classes so that syllabi do not have to be completely revised.
There is a concern, however, that a semester of revised courses could be even more stressful. But we do not think that it has to be like that and that is more dependent on the handling of the course. We also think that short crash courses before the resumption could help. There is also another concern that some courses simply cannot be condensed or that some topics be left out. However, we argue that the goal (rather than the specific details) of the curriculum is flexible enough to accommodate such changes.
Ending the semester now and passing every student will not be an assassination of students’ education.
There are other details to a semestral revision policy that need to be provided, however. For example, should students be able to request numerical grades instead of just a “pass” remark? What about thesis defenses? Should there still be a graduation ceremony? And of course, there is the question of what to do if schools are still closed next semester.
We leave out our opinion on those for now, but any decision must consider the circumstances carefully, must be humane, and must be open to criticism. At every point, let us show the Department of Justice what true compassion means. End the semester and pass everyone.
