Written by Joven Jacolbia

Last October 8, UP Manila administrators presented their plans in a town hall meeting with students. The main agenda of the meeting was the plan for face-to-face classes, which has already started in limited capacity in the white colleges. According to The Manila Collegian, administrators say that they are still awaiting approval from the UP System Administration and the Board of Regents. Once implemented, class capacity will be reduced to avoid overcrowding in college buildings.

The College of Arts and Sciences Student Council (CAS SC) has already presented various proposals for implementation of face to face classes to the CAS executive committee. Their proposal references the Education Recovery plan of the De La Salle University, which prioritizes laboratory classes and thesis work for fully vaccinated students.

The administration also announced that there are no plans to stop the controversial Return Service Agreement (RSA), which requires return service from recipients and payment of school fees for students shifting out of health science programs. A month before the town hall meeting, UP Vice President for Academic Affairs Maria Cynthia Rose B. Bautista said they will schedule a discussion with UPM Chancellor Carmencita Padilla and the administration of the health science colleges to review calls to stop the RSA program.

Several OrCom students who shifted out of white colleges are now worried about the implications of the RSA program. Fees are now reported to reach more than one (1) million per student. As of writing, the UPM University Student Council (UPM USC) continues to coordinate with the university administration to review both plans for face-to-face classes and the RSA. For F2F concerns, you may contact the UPM USC at m.me/usc.upm and CAS SC at m.me/upmcassc.

Featured Image by Nicole Valderrama