Written by Andrea Lou H. Magnaye, on the article: rappler.com/students-expelled-speaking-ilocano
“The blog post is about three students dismissed by a school in Ilocos Norte on grounds of speaking Ilokano during school hours. The blog post has been circulating social media sites since yesterday.
“Under the the Journalist’s Code of Ethics, a journalist “shall presume persons accused of crime of being innocent until proven otherwise.” Moreover, he or she “shall exercise caution in publishing names of minors and women involved in criminal cases so that they may not unjustly lose their standing in society.” Though it was stated several times in the blog post that presented facts of the alleged incident were based on the traumatic experiences of the students involved, there were some portions of the blog post that tend to influence readers to believe that the said alleged incident, including all the details, indeed occurred. It should be remembered that regardless of how serious the allegations may be, Reverend Brian Shah is still a person accused … and shall be presumed innocent until proven otherwise. Thus, his reputation should still be taken into consideration in writing the blog post or presenting the facts. The writer may have biases or opinions regarding an issue, but he/she shall avoid being influenced by them in writing an article to properly ascertain truth. The writer even included pictures that would strengthen the claims or stand of the allegedly aggrieved party, while presented none for the other.
“According to the blog post, the experience has been traumatic for both kids. However, the writer unhesitatingly divulged to the public the full names of two of the students, who are also minors, namely, – – – – – – – – – – – – and – – – – – – – – – – – – – (names removed by admin marichulambino.com). With their identities being circulated with the blog post, the students will have more difficulty dealing with their trauma. It was even expressly stated that the dismissed students had difficulty in finding new schools, which worsens their condition and might even lower their self-esteem. It is worth mentioning that – – – – – – – – – ( name removed by admin) one of the dismissed students was a victim of bullying; thus, he might already have a low self-esteem prior to the incident. Further, the school that admitted- – – – – – – – – – – – (name removed by admin) was also mentioned; this will take away the kid’s chance to start his new student life and move on. He might have difficulties in studying, because the traumatic experience that he left will probably haunt him in his new school. Again, a journalist shall exercise caution in publishing names of minors; the writer failed to observe such provision of the Code.” Posted by Andrea Lou H. Magnaye.
I don’t know which of my students are paid or not paid – that’s because everybody who wants to take the class is enlisted on a first-come-first-served basis regardless of whether they’re paid or not, or to be more precise, on a first-online-preenlist -first-served basis. Their names appear on the official roll of enrolled students regardless of matriculating or not. When the semester starts, everybody who wants to pass, take the quizzes, exams, make their case presentations, work as a team in their group assignments. Grades are submitted online; the deadline is usually about two weeks or 18 days after the last day of classes. The faculty member clicks the “CRS” (computerized registration system), enters his/her password, then clicks the “Instructor Dashboard”, then clicks each class roll to submit the grades. Sometimes, every other semester, there’s a gap or two in the class roll where the function for grade submission for a student’s name is disabled, it has a red button with an X inside and when you look at the legend to find out why it is disabled, it says “Not Paid”. But the student has a grade as far as my class record is concerned: he/she took all the exams and quizzes, made a case presentation, participated in the recitation, etc.. And because I’m an OC and want to submit all the grades of all people/ all students who worked, i always make a further inquiry with the admin staff; with an instruction to make sure the gap is filled (that that particular grade is submitted) as soon as the software allows it.
In other words, there is no “No Late Payment” policy, at least as far as the classes we were handling were concerned, and as recent as last November (four months ago). Two minutes ago, I double-checked with the department staff again, and it was confirmed that we did not have/ do not have a “No Late Payment” policy. You pre-enlist/ enlist , you’re in the class; you submit the requirements, you have a grade; you dazzle the faculty member, you get a grade of 1.0 – – regardless of financial circumstances.
This however does not detract from the outdatedness of the numbers (income) being used to determine the student bracket system, being based on 1989 minimum wage, poverty line and cost of living standards.
Many faculty members (including myself) are tough on students who perpetrate fraud or intellectual dishonesty, on students who maim the innocent in the guise of brotherhood, on students who bully their way in the parking lot or in the stairway by blocking everybody else’s passageway, on students who do not take exams for no reason and expect special treatment, on students who do not prepare for their assigned work and feel they are entitled.
But U.P. student Kristel Tejada (B.S. Behavioral Sciences, U.P. Manila), the U.P. student who took her life two days after she was required to file a “Leave of Absence” because she was not going to be in the official roll brought about by the “No Late Payment” policy, kept going to school and studying. Last Dec. 19 she filed an appeal, the admin staff turned her away, did not even receive her appeal, because “it was the last working day of the year”. Government employees were too busy attending the Christmas party.
She attended classes even if her status was “sit-in” this semester, being barred by the “No Late Payment” policy. She studied for the course even if there was uncertainty that her name would be in the class roll. She read her assignments even if she knew she might not be allowed to remain.
This is the kind of student you would want to have in class, this is the kind of freshman, sophomore — future graduate you would want in your block. This is the kind of scholar, Iskolar ng Bayan, that is worth every centavo of the people’s money. She was good for it – — every peso.
Anyone who has taught in U.P. would know that a student like her was a wise investment for the country.
To completely bar her, the admin and security even went to the extent of requiring her to surrender her U.P. student I.D.. This was two days from when she took her life.
This is the first time I’ve ever heard of this being done to a U.P. student. Based on experience when i was in the legal department of U.P., not even criminally violent U.P. students found liable were ever stripped of their U.P. student I.D. Not even those who had been kickedout were ever asked to surrender their U.P. student I.D.. To this day, you could graduate, or be dismissed from U.P., and your I.D. would not be confiscated.
Stripped of her I.D. she could not even take a single step inside the gate of her campus.
She was treated like she was going to steal equipment from the University.
