#nostudentleftbehind

Andito ako at muling nagbabalik. Ilang buwan din akong namahinga sa paggamit ng Tumblr. At ibang social media accounts. Kasi hindi kinakaya ng utak at puso ko ang mga pangyayari kaya sorry. 😔

Hanggang ngayon mabigat ang puso ko. Halos apat na buwan na simula nung nilagay tayo sa quarantine. Iba’t ibang uri na ng quarantine ang sinusunod ng iba’t ibang bayan, pero ang bottomline ay hindi pa rin nafaflatten ang lintek na curve na ‘yan. Hanggang kailan pa kaya? Bilyon bilyon na ang utang natin oh.

Anyway.

Salamat sa mga patuloy na nagfofollow sa’kin kahit na hindi ako active. Andito na ako ulit. Kailangan ko na ulit ng outlet. Kasi naiipon na lahat. At ayaw kong sumabog.

In this current setup where deadlines seem to be worth more than our own mental health, it is sometimes so hard to consider, even to ourselves, the idea of resting. No matter how much we need or feel the urge to rest, it sometimes feels unjust to actually rest because, again, the deadlines are waiting. We sometimes focus on finishing school works on time without even realizing its cost — our mental health.

When the pandemic started almost two years ago and classes were then forced to be conducted online, the cry for academic break immediately burst shortly after the remote classes started. Since then, reports about the students’ struggles to cope with the new mode of learning have been everywhere on social media. The students’ mental health became worse than it already was and that led to unfortunate events of students committing self-harm and worse, suicide. 

Recently, Saint Louis University, a Catholic university in Baguio City, made noises on social media after reports of multiple suicide of students pointing academic pressure as the cause surfaced. Students of SLU have been demanding academic break since 2020 but the university failed to consider their call which now resulted to an alarming rate of suicide cases. 

Academic pressure has been an issue even before the pandemic started, but it became worse when students resorted to remote learning. Aside from the fact that remote learning is not for everyone, it also only caters to privileged students which makes the rest of the student population left with no choice but to either unenroll or risk what they got to risk, which in this case is their mental health. 

University institutions have the main goal of wanting to produce competent and skilled graduates, but what they’re doing to their students is the exact opposite of it. Remote learning is not learning. It only benefits a certain bracket of students. At this point, not even time management helps. Online learning consumes a lot of our time and energy, all for the purpose of not learning even a single lesson. 

Learning shouldn’t feel that much of a punishment. Learning should be fun, effective, and collaborative. 

Learning should never take someone’s life and dreams.

   Recently I’ve been watching videos on how to be more productive and how not to procrastinate in everything that we should do and what we should be doing. I find those videos motivating in my side where as I do find myself a little bit more productive and I can honestly say I did somehow improve unlike back then. I’m not saying that “how to be productive” videos are the way to go because sometimes I do find myself watching those kinds of videos almost whole day and thinking that I can accomplish almost everything once I started doing those Home Works. Sadly, it doesn’t work that way obviously. I have spent my time watching those videos instead of already start working. So, either way I still procrastinate and somehow don’t get things done. Every day (yes including Saturdays and Sundays) there are just somethings that will be reminding me, “Hey! You remember about Science? Yeah, I know. Now get up and start it!” I end up procrastinating and I really do feel a lack of motivation to start it.

   That actually continued for about 2-3 weeks of online class until one time. Recently we went outside to go visit our grandma and grandpa at the cemetery with my family and 2 cousins. I was excited well I mean, going to visit a love one who already passed away isn’t but due to the fact that I will see the “outside world” once again. So yes, we’re on our way to Manila Memorial park Governor Drive, Dasmariñas, Cavite, when I found out and had a realization of, there were kids on the street about 5 – 8 years old kids. Now usually I know that we are not allowed to go outside but for some reason those kids on the street that we went through to go to Manila Memorial park is different because their house is literally right next the road or the main road taking a bath so I was like, “Something’s not right.” I know that poverty here in the Philippines was long an issue before but the fact that we are in the midst of this pandemic is something else.

   I know that the Government is helping in all but, I was wondering. How about the families who got their children to go to school with almost sacrificing 100% of their time working just to sustain and help their children finish their studies? How about those kids who really wants to finish their studies but they don’t have the materials to do so? It made me sit back and think, “Wow…Good Lord thank you for I am blessed.” I mean really, look at the situation today. Those students who have the initiative to pursue and finish their studies but lack the materials to do so are risking their lives dangerously from climbing to  a high place to get an enough amount of signal for their online classes to kids or students who are exposing their lives itself just to earn money and have the materials at hand to just somehow get to class. It is sad but true.

   Now all throughout the time staying and just having talks about our grandparents on the cemetery, the thought of not all of us students in general that can afford to attend classes are experiencing the same education really. In fact, some students back then that is a face-to-face education are already having a hard time in schools. What more if it’s only through screens? Let’s say we’re on the phase of adjusting. Okay fair enough. Since this was the first time that locally (here in the Philippines) implement that online classes are the new norm now. Okay I get that but, if it’s the new norm why can’t everyone afford it? Why can’t every student have the same education as students who can afford the materials at hand go to class? Obviously if anyone who would to answer those questions, their answer will probably “Well, it’s because poverty was long an issue back then in the Philippines yada yada” or “Well because it’s their fault that they didn’t have that amount of-…” I get that! I know that because other families couldn’t afford their children to go to school. But does mentioning pass issues solve the problem? Does pinpointing the wrong doings of our people back then solve the faced pandemic today? Absolutely not. There’s nothing we can do about what happened but I am certain we can do something about what will happen, what can help our economy progress. When literally all of us have the same goal there is nothing that can stop us whether it be crisis or what. It’s one of our characteristics of a Pilipino that we don’t leave anyone behind and that every single one of us will rise and we will do anything with the best of our abilities altogether.

Many people have claimed that the Mayans wrongly predicted the 2012 disaster. In 2020, you would witness every type of catastrophe every month. Firstly, you have the Australian bushfire, which has terminated a significant amount of wildlives. In January, devastating floods destroyed Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, and some neighboring areas. Then, the snow in Antarctica has turned green due to global warming and massive algae bloom. Recently, a vast explosion rocked Lebanon’s capital city, which created a shock wave that severely damaged roads and buildings, shattering glass for miles. And the list of disasters goes on and on.

The ultimate disaster is when the COVID-19 pandemic took the world by surprise. Globally, everything has stopped. Simultaneously, the outbreaks steered the delaying of a multitude of projects. Even workplaces and schools have shut down their activities. The world seems to have ground to a halt because of the novel coronavirus. While countries are at different points in their COVID-19 infection rates worldwide, there are currently more than 1.2 billion children in 186 countries affected by school closures due to the pandemic.

With all the disasters happening, you would expect that the country would implement an academic freeze. Many of us have reckoned that ‘academic freeze’ is ideal because the pandemic is hazardous to not only our mental health but also our financial status. Furthermore, the implementation of online classes would intensify the digital divide in our country. Another factor to consider is the availability of internet access in the country as the average internet speed is only up to 15mbps. Unless the government subsidizes the internet connection in the country, at the same time, improves the speed and coverage, online learning could be possible.

I am in a tug-of-war relationship with the idea of ‘academic freeze’. Yes, it could be a fair way to treat all students without leaving the under-privileged behind. However, it could increase the unemployment rate in the country as the professors and other faculty members do not have a job for the time being. If the ‘academic freeze were to be successfully implemented, how would the professors and faculty members survive? Even if there was help provided by the university, I do not think it is sufficient for them to finance their living.  

My opinion may sound like I am siding with a private educational institution whose capitalist ideals still prevail during this dreadful time. Although, I am assessing the side of academic and non-academic employees. I think schools should continue their enrollment processes. With the continuation of learning, academic and non-academic employees could still earn remuneration and expedite the graduation process for people who are desperate to work. 

Nevertheless, educational institutions should not take advantage of students in times of crisis. Many universities either maintain the normal or even hike the tuition fees without justifying the reasons for the actions. The issue exacerbates when online learning is conducted in a low-quality manner and inaccessible for many students, especially the ones who live in rural areas. Due to this, numerous students have expressed that if the cases continue to rise as it has been in the past weeks since the start of the General Community Quarantine, then what more should we expect when we return to physical classes? 

I am appalled by the fact that the same schools that preach about ‘education is a birthright’ are the same schools that leech money out of their students. What I can say is that this ‘leech’ does not discriminate against any class of students. Rich or poor, you would still be taken advantage of from them. Even if the rich can still proceed with their educational journey, the underprivileged may take a break from studying. Consequently, the fresh-graduate can finally search for a decent profession while the poor are working on a minimum wage job to survive. If the situation persisted, it could broaden the gap between the rich and the poor. Regardless, no students should be exploited by schools for their benefit.

Public or private agencies, companies, and institutions that are economically devastated can exhort graduating students to seek for a job if an ‘academic freeze’ is implemented. Through this effort, it could uplift local businesses, given that they should be lenient in tendering their academic requirements for employment. Besides, public-private partnership or government-business coordination can incentivize school employees and contractual workers with a possible loan with no interest agreement. This scheme may excite their spirit of teaching. As a result, they could sustain and enhance their values and productivity to impart quality education to their students during the post-pandemic.

By resuming the classes early, it will only precipitate a financial crisis to families who were previously burdened with other factors of the pandemic, on top of providing tuition and allowances for the students. The ‘new normal’ that is administered by the government appears to prioritize well-off students, and abandon the welfare of the indigents. The country should dedicate the period of the ‘academic freeze’ to concocting a vaccine for the virus and conduct an effective and efficient mass testing to the citizens in the Philippines. Even so, a collective and responsive team should assuage the aftermath of the widespread disease.

Since the underprivileged students are the most vulnerable people of this disfigured system, an “academic freeze” is the most plausible recourse that caters to students, teachers, and school administrators. It enables them to amalgamate with our front liners in reducing the devastating effects of COVID-19. Besides, they could assist the local governments in promoting safety procedures through various forms of media. Lastly, the pause of academic enrolment can contribute to the recovery of our country’s economy by spearheading inclusive socio-economic volunteer mobilization programs.

We, as citizens, should not romanticize underprivileged Filipino academic resilience. In reality, most of them are in desperation of enduring hostile work environments to earn a living wage and starve themselves to settle their tuition fees. So, they are willing to sacrifice their future lives because the educational system never sides with less fortunate people.