More than 10 years later, the consequences of the UP Board of Regents’ decision to shift the start of the academic year from June to August have proven to be hellish.
And now, in the backdrop of the 43-degree Celsius sweltering heat index, perhaps it is time to reevaluate the academic calendar and the university’s priorities.
The UP administration argued then that the shift would dodge the June-July wet season coinciding with the Habagat, but the argument already stood on shaky ground. It was evident that the summer heat would be a problem, with the 2014 summer being the hottest on record during the time. Studies by the state weather bureau also showed that storms have historically been fiercer during the latter months of the year, which the August-May calendar would not be able to elude.
Weather, however, wasn’t the sole reason for the calendar shift. In truth, the decision was made in the name of internationalization–to align UP’s calendar with the calendars of other foreign universities.
Then UP President Alfredo Pascual argued that the greater opportunity for collaboration with other universities afforded by the calendar shift would lead to more globally competitive graduates. Until now, internationalization continues to be a major policy of the university, with UP President Angelo Jimenez outlining his vision of UP as a global university in his policy paper.
But as several professors pointed out back then, internationalization and shifting the calendar have no correlation at all. UP graduates will not suddenly be globally competitive just because their academic calendars start in August. At the same time, such lopsided priorities by the UP administration may put Filipino graduates in vulnerable situations under foreign employment. This would mark the first step in the erosion of workers’ rights and national industry, think tank IBON Foundation noted back in 2014.
Worse, all these major shifts in academic policies were done without proper sectoral consultation. Students and faculty members immediately slammed the calendar shift as “rushed and unconvincing.”
The objections at the time read like prophecies now–sectors said increased funding for ventilation would be needed for the summer months and that students would not be able to return to their families at proper times. These objections ring even louder today as UP Diliman (UPD) Chancellor Edgardo Carlo Vistan issued a memorandum that would allow online classes due to the extreme heat.
Of course, problems with the calendar were made worse by the pandemic, which has shifted the calendar further to September causing an academic crunch during the holiday seasons. As a result, the first semester had a one-week spillover after the holiday break, much to the dismay of students and faculty. The university administration must be held accountable for worsening, during the pandemic, an already bad academic calendar.
The most recent UPD academic calendar places the start of the next academic year to August 20, a clear adjustment from the previous academic year. But a return to the June start of the academic year must still be an option on the table. And this time, sectoral consultations with students such as those conducted by the College of Science must be done from the ground up.
Any change should then be accompanied by the proper roll-out and transition plan. And regardless of the academic calendar change, the administration must stop with its misguided, foreign-aligned priorities and instead center its policies around its constituents.
Ten years is enough time. It is high time for the administration to extinguish the flames of misguided policymaking before they spread any further. ●
