Yes to mass promotion, #WalangIwanan

AS a former teacher and mother of a freshman student of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), I join the clarion call of the UP Diliman University Student Council’s campaign for mass promotions with the hashtag #WalangIwanan.

Days before the declaration of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), it was with much push, from my end, to convince my daughter to join us over the weekend in Quezon City. But with only a week of suspension given by UPLB, she was bothered about how to go back. This, I guess, was the reason why a thousand other students opted to stay, and were eventually trapped, inside the campus.

Bringing her home was no easy feat, as she faced the dilemma of how to return. My generic line “Mama knows best,” coupled with the assurance that I would bring her back to Laguna come hell or high water, proved potent.

The new normal under quarantine since March 15 is an ordeal for my daughter—far harder, I believe, than her Iska life. The harsh lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic go beyond the toughest subject in college.

Gone are the days when learning was classroom- and teacher-dependent. Today’s generation can easily cope, on a fast track, with other modes of learning. After this COVID-19 scare, institutions of learning need to continue to plan and to prepare beyond what the four corners of the classroom can offer.

The pandemic that caught everyone unprepared is a great equalizer. No normal student would choose a life of confinement over an ordinary student’s routine which is full of life and zest, never mind the research and all.

Mass promotion will not leave my daughter half-baked. She has regularly burned the midnight oil long before the lockdown, and I am fully confident that, guided by UP’s motto of honor and excellence, she will survive. Without the threat of this pandemic, her ingrained study habits will see her through in the premier university, as she lives up to the country’s expectations.

But that she is home, safe from COVID-19: By all means, she deserves a pass mark this semester.

BELEN DOCENA-ASUELO, [email protected]