The Congress for Teachers and Educators for Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND) joins the call for Ligtas Na Balik Eskwela (LNBE) and urges the UP administration to formulate a clear and concise plan for the safe return of face-to-face classes.
“It is high time that the UP administration take more decisive actions towards the safe return of face-to-face classes by providing the enabling environment for its implementation,” CONTEND wrote in a recent statement addressing the calls for LNBE.
Echoing UP College of Science Dean Giovanni Tapang, CONTEND also noted the importance of face-to-face classes. The digital divide and the necessity of a conducive learning environment for students only stress the need to return to the physical setup.
CONTEND stressed the inclusion of other campus services such as the vendors and jeepney drivers in the restoration of physical campus activities. Several of which have been heavily affected by the pandemic due to the decrease in their source of income. The group also called to ensure free COVID-related services such as vaccination and testing on campus.
Last August 8, a townhall discussion on LNBE entitled: the ISKOnsultasyon: UPD Townhall on Ligtas na Balik-Eskwela, was held.
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Concerns about on-campus activities, transportation, food, academic-related matters, and housing conditions were brought up by participants. Guidelines on the return of limited F2F classes, including the return to the 15-unit minimum, were discussed in the forum.
Likewise, as the university gradually transitions to a blended learning mode, CONTENDhe urged the UP administration to unite in the calls for a higher budget to secure the safety and security of the return to the physical setup, as well as safeguarding the resources and facilities available.
Among the community’s calls for a higher budget entails to the regularization of the university’s staff, alongside the provision of proper salaries and benefits for both regular and contractual workers. Additionally, as the first round of pre-enlistment for the first semester of AY 2022-2023 concluded last August 15, this further exposed the long-standing clamor of the UP Diliman community for the opening of more classes, made impossible by the restrictions posed by the university’s meager budget.
“We must also gear ourselves towards demanding a higher budget for the university from the new Marcos administration,” the group stated.
In 2021, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) proposed a P1.3 billion cut in the university’s budget for 2022. From the proposed P36.5 billion budget, DBM proposed to cut it down to P20.1 billion — only a little over half of the initial proposed budget.
However, DBM’s proposal was deflected. The University’s budget hiked to P2.8 billion in 2022. Albeit being a third short of the initially proposed budget, the university welcomed the increase and planned to utilize it for the ongoing reconstructions of the campus.
READ: https://phkule.org/article/436/up-gets-p28-billion-budget-hike-in-2022
Classes will officially begin in the university on September 5. As the second round of pre-enlistment ensues, several students have expressed anxious and disappointed sentiments on their lack of units from the first round. The uncertainties have raised issues the students are to inevitably face in properly planning for their return to campus, heightening grievances on lodging and transportation.
Despite an update in the F2F guidelines was released last August 14, more students are still unsure or unaware of such. The UP community consistently demanded that planning be more inclusive and consultative, considering the current conditions severely compromised by the pandemic crisis.
CONTEND highlighted the need for a higher budget for the university and a genuinely safe reopening of classes, and stressed the group’s “long-term goal of advancing a nationalist, scientific, and mass-oriented education and culture.”
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Featured image courtesy of CONTEND UP
