UP high school students, alumni protest closure

[crinkle]

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mods, i'm not sure if naa na ni... i tried to search for an existing topic bout this but i couldn't. so here it is:

HIGH school and college students of the University of the Philippines-Visayas Cebu College (UPVCC) braved the rain
yesterday in protesting the government’s plan to phase out its high school department.

The press statement read during the rally by Ella Sarmago of the UPVCC Student Council said the UPVCC administration, led by Dean Enrique Avila, is determined to curtail their right to education.

“In the past three semesters, the local administration, through Avila, had been relentlessly pushing to close the UP Cebu High School. However, concerted efforts of the students, faculty, alumni and student organizations managed to thwart the plans to close and even downsize the enrollment of the high school,” read the statement.

The protesting students said the closure of the state high school only aggravates the crisis in Philippine education and intensifies the commercialization of the university by abolishing the so-called non-income generating, non-marketable programs.

Violation

“We stand firm and united against the persistent threats to close UP Cebu High School as this is an apparent violation of the mandate of the University of the Philippines to provide service to the Filipino people. It is likewise a disservice to the Cebu community as the UP Cebu High School stands as the only school in Central Visayas to provide a democratized admission policy giving preferential admission to underprivileged but intellectually deserving students,” read the statement.

Cristy Tayone, secretary general of Nagkahiusang Kusog sa Estudyante (NKE), said the plan to close UP Cebu High School is a clear manifestation of the wrong policies of the government on education.

Instead of continuing to help the poor by providing free high school education, Tayone said the policy of the government is to earn money.

NKE is working hand in hand with its rival party, the United Progressive Students (UPS), in opposing the closure.

High School Principal Purita Baltazar said they at the Professional Education Division of UP are working so hard to retain the high school whose admission policy is democratized.

Baltazar said this means that only underprivileged students are accepted, so they will get quality education. (EOB)

UP high school students, alumni protest closure | Sun.Star Network Online

[unsay_ngalan_nimo]

Support UP HIGH... Quality EDUCATION FOR THE MASSES!

[cottonmouth]

TS: Can you post also the side of the admin why they want to close the school?

Para fair ang laban ba.

One sided man ni nga view. There must be a big reason ngano i-close ang school kay di gud ra maka -dali2x ug sirado baya ug government school. This is a government mandated school that anything related to its opening and closure needs to have approval from the congress.

[pruzchett]

TS: Can you post also the side of the admin why they want to close the school?

Para fair ang laban ba.

One sided man ni nga view. There must be a big reason ngano i-close ang school kay di gud ra maka -dali2x ug sirado baya ug government school. This is a government mandated school that anything related to its opening and closure needs to have approval from the congress.

ngano parehas man tag gi-think hehehe i have been thinking about this pud, maybe they have a reason.

i heard nga UP high is not generating income? something like that. it's sad to have to close it though, but i think really once the admin is set to do something, they'll probably really do it. there must be some good and fool-proof reason why, otherwise, it wouldn't be approved by people higher than avila.

[crinkle]

im not from UP High. this issue was quite interesting for me because i have so many cousins who graduated there. 4 ang anak sa ako auntie and they all graduated from UP High... dako kaayo na safve ako auntie because of it. if not for the affordable but high quality education UP was able to provide her kids, malubong siguro siya sa utang trying to get them all to good private schools.

nindot pa jud ang location sa UP accessible kaayo to many.


anyway, i was trying to find more info as to what really happened but aside from that article i posted above, the only other thing i found was this, from about 2 years ago...

Monday, December 24, 2007
Socialized tuition scheme eyed to save UP high school

FEARING an eventual phase-out of the University of the Philippines (UP) High School in Cebu because of financial woes, the school administration wants to adopt a socialized tuition scheme to save it.

But implementing the plan is still being studied as an alternative system under Republic Act (RA) No. 6655, or the Free Public Secondary Education Act of 1988, which provides for a free public secondary education to all qualified citizens and promotes quality education at all levels.

School principal Purita Baltazar said her office received a memorandum from UP in the Visayas Cebu College (UPVCC) Dean Enrique Avila last Nov. 23 directing them to reduce enrolment quota to only one section per year, effective June 2008.

Hiring

The school was also disallowed from hiring replacements of faculty members who either retired or resigned from service.

The reason was that UP is primarily a tertiary institution.

This is contained in her letter to Renan Dalisay, Sen. Francis Pangilinan’s chief of staff who graduated from “UP High” in 1984.

Sun.Star Cebu received a copy of the letter, which was also posted on the school’s “UP Naming Mahal” blog.

“We understand that the problem is really economics. The high school is a non-earning program for it does not charge any tuition. We don’t want the reduction (in the number of students) to happen because eventually it will mean the total phase-out of the school. There are so many promising youth we could help if the high school continues,” said Baltazar.

For Dalisay, the proposed socialized tuition policy, which will allow the school to accept a certain percentage from the more affluent students who will pay the full tuition fee, can be explored through an RA 6655 amendment by Congress.

Feeder

“We are attempting at devising a socialized tuition scheme for the high school similar to what the college has, and find a way to get around RA 6655,” Baltazar said.

She said that with half of its graduates enrolling across the street for their college education, UP High is still a “feeder” to UPVCC.

“Our students are doing very well at UP (in the Visayas) Cebu College. In fact, in 2005 and 2006, the class valedictorians of UP Cebu College were both valedictorians of UP High School Cebu,” she said.

And UP High has also contributed in the public education’s enhancement in Cebu City.

Baltazar said faculty members have also conducted several researches testing innovative teaching methods and instructional materials whose results were shared with the Department of Education. (NRC)

so it's been a problem for quite some time na...

[LytSlpr]

IMO, if UP in general cannot offer more classrooms and courses to the masses, then it should be moved if not closed.

the huge and valuable land it is sitting on could be more useful for business, thereby more taxes, more jobs, etc. which outweighs the purpose of the university.

if UP high school would indeed be closed, then I wouldn't be surprised if it will eventually be owned by the Ayalas, Sys, Gokongweis, Gotianuns, Aboitizes, etc.

[Sol_Itaire]

^excuse me, LytSlpr. this country HAD BETTER educate its POOR PEOPLE first to attract and staff those businesses you're wishing for

[LytSlpr]

^excuse me, LytSlpr. this country HAD BETTER educate its POOR PEOPLE first to attract and staff those businesses you're wishing for

don't get me wrong, i am for quality government education for the masses but i am just looking at the big picture as well as the reality. moreover, UP high is not the only "better" government run high school in the country.

as i've said, if UP high cannot accommodate the masses, if they will not be closed down then they'd better move the campus somewhere else for better use of the property. i don't see anything wrong with that.

[cottonmouth]

I graduated from a government high that is not UP. I just wonder why there should be UP when there are free high schools all over Cebu. If the government wants quality education then they should make all government high schools, either in the city or in the barrios, have the same teaching standards like UP high.

I am for the closure of UP High just because I wanted EQUAL quality education for all the government high schools. The resources that would be used in UP high can be instead channeled to other schools, e.g. Abellana high school, where all students in all walks of life can get there chances for better education: ma bugo man or bright. Naa man gud sakit nato nga kusog kaau mo brand nga "Aw taga-UP man diay", so mas maau pang ipatas na lang tanan para fair ang laban.

With UP high school around we seems to be promoting discrimination between bugo and the non-bugo. I knew a lot of people who graduated from UP but they are not poor. In the real world, those children who were sent to a good kindergarten or elementary schools are usually the ones who excel in UP high or in any other government high schools.

[joshua259]

mao gud. if financial ang reason sa UP high closure then why not close it. you can't feed the teachers and there families if you don't pay them, it's reality. and why not channel the best education to other government schools like cottonmouth said. its unfair for other government schools na ang UP high ra ang nindot og standards.