Congratulations! UP officials allow ‘GE27’ to graduate

Justine Hernandez

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Congratulations! UP officials allow ‘GE27’ to graduate
The 27 graduating students incur 'academic deficiencies' due to an error in the use of the University of the Philippine's new curriculum checklist

MANILA, Philippines – They will march on June 25.

A surge of greetings flooded Facebook and Twitter after the University of the Philippines (UP) Board of Regents (BOR) decided on Tuesday, June 23, to allow 27 students – dubbed “GE27” – from UP Baguio to join the graduation rites.

The 27 graduating students incurred “academic deficiencies” due to an error in the use of the new curriculum checklist that was implemented in 2011 under the Revised General Education Program (RGEP). The students from the College of Arts and Communication (CAC) completed the required number of units in the RGEP “but failed to take the required courses under its ‘hybrid’ version,” UP Baguio said in a statement.

Under the guidance of advisers, UP students are free to choose their preferred general education (GE) subjects from a checklist.

However, in an open letter by Pnjette Cabrera, one of the GE27 students, she explained that their advisers did not inform them about the new curriculum checklist that indicated the required subjects.

Cabrera recalled she was given the old checklist during her second year of college. 

“It seems that the advisers were also unaware of the old/new checklist,” she said in her statement.

The 27 students were unable to take some GE subjects such as English 1, Communication 1 (Comm 1), and History1.

However, of the graduating students from CAC, 74 did not encounter the same problem, according to UP Baguio, the 7th constituent university of the UP System.

Voice of the students

In a meeting on June 11, the University Council (UC), UP Baguio’s highest academic decision making body, disapproved CAC’s motion for a waiver of the academic deficiencies of the GE27. 

Twenty-seven UC members voted against allowing the students to graduate. Twenty-two voted in favor of the students, while 5 abstained.

After the UC turned down the students’ appeal, the University Student Council (UPB USC) conducted a signature campaign that was sent to UP President Alfredo Pascual to express the students’ support for the GE27.

On June 15, the 27 students petitioned the UP President to allow them to graduate. The appeal was endorsed by UP Baguio Chancellor Raymundo Rovillos.

UP Baguio earlier said overturning the UC’s decision shall be based on the following:

  • Academic merits of the individual or similarly situated students  
  • If it is established that the case of “mis-advising” or the absence of adequate advising or monitoring system, was largely CAC’s shortcoming

Supporters of the GE27 took to social media to express their frustration over the UC’s decision to reject the appeal. In a matter of days, the hashtags “GE27” and “Letthemsablay” triggered active discussions on Twitter.

According to UPB USC Chaiperson Yves de Rivera Medina, no student representatives were allowed to participate  in the decision-making processes that tackled the issue.

“The University Student Council was not invited by the University Council of UP Baguio, no representative even from the GE 27 students was invited in the previous meetings to defend and explain their side,” he said.

Medina stressed that “institutionalized student participation in more crucial university processes is of importance to amplify the voice of the students.” – Rappler.com

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