Over 300 grantees of student learning assistance system (SLAS) have yet to receive the full assistance the university promised, even when an academic year has already passed since their application.

Of the 1,726 learning assistance packages granted to UP students under SLAS, only 1,370 have been delivered to the different UP campuses for distribution to non-National Capital Region grantees, Richard Gonzalo, assistant vice president for student affairs and director of the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA), reported at the University Committee on Student Affairs meeting, September 6.

Mark*, a third-year student at UP Diliman (UPD), is among those who have not yet received their package. He has sought help from the university in the hopes of sustaining his studies amid the pandemic.

The second eldest of four siblings, Mark wanted to ease the family’s financial burden, which his mother has solely shouldered since his father died. Mark hoped to apply for various scholarships, but could not because of some incomplete marks he had obtained when he was just starting to adjust to remote learning.

It was only through SLAS that he felt he had a chance to continue his studies.

Overwhelming Setup

SLAS is an expansion of the Student Financial Assistance Online, which aims to support financially challenged students at the university. Applicants are classified into brackets based on their household’s paying capacity.

Only those applicants who are qualified under either full discount (FD) or FD with stipend (FDS) are eligible for a learning assistance package funded by the donations to Kaagapay sa Pag-aaral.

These packages may include a subsidy for 12-month internet connection and a gadget grant. Meanwhile, students who, initially, did not fall under FD or FDS may file an appeal to avail the said package.

A total of 2,535 UPD students qualified for SLAS in the past academic year. But almost only a quarter of them were eligible for a learning assistance package and a free-tuition discount (see sidebar).

Mark appealed to be classified under FDS. He had to submit a death certificate of his father, along with a proof of their family income, water and electricity bills, and photos of different areas in their house, as advised by SLAS coordinators. They approved his appeal, making him eligible for an internet connection subsidy and a gadget grant.

A few weeks into the first semester of Academic Year (AY) 2020-2021, however, Mark is still waiting for his stipend and learning assistance package from SLAS.

“Due to my unstable internet connection and lack of gadgets, there were times when I wasn’t able to attend our synchronous classes. My phone back then always lags because of [low] storage space. It was even harder on rainy days. The signal gets worse especially when I’m only using mobile data,” he said.

Mark’s situation is just one of the many unheard struggles of UP students during the pandemic.

In fact, in UP’s town hall session last September 20, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs Evangeline Amor reported that eight in 10 students who had participated in UP’s survey said they felt overwhelmed by remote learning.

Yet, despite the admin’s efforts and initiatives, this situation for most students, especially for SLAS grantees, may still be far from being resolved in time for them to keep up with the current setup.

Procurement, Distribution Woes

By the end of the first semester last academic year, Mark had still not received any of the promised assistance under SLAS. To receive a P3,500 monthly stipend, he complied with all grant requirements, including opening a bank account, which had been an inconvenient process during the pandemic.

Mark, who lives in Nueva Ecija, went to UPD, hoping that opening a bank account on campus would expedite the process. But his efforts came to nothing.

“Hanggang 2 p.m. lang ang bangko. Sabi ng guard bumalik na lang daw ako. Sabi ko wala na akong pamasahe pabalik. Minessage ko yung SLAS [admin] kung may pwede silang gawin, pero hindi raw nila kontrolado ang UP Land Bank. Kaya wala akong choice. Umuwi na lang ako sa amin ulit at doon nag-open ng account,” he said.

Even when he finally opened an account, Mark could still not receive his stipend until the second semester. He frequently asked the SLAS coordinators about the release of the allowance. It was only last April that he received a total of P24,000, which covered six months’ worth of stipend.

“I thought if I provided all the requirements they needed, I'd immediately get the [assistance]. However, I ended up waiting for months,” Mark said. “Waiting days after days caused me anxiety, hoping and wondering if the promised assistance will still arrive considering that the semester is already ongoing at that time.”

This year, Mark struggles with similar delays in the release of his gadget grant and internet connection assistance. The university has admitted that certain factors have indeed hampered the distribution of learning assistance packages.

For one, varying quarantine classifications could lead to delayed delivery of devices to the students, Gonzalo told the Collegian in an email. Some SLAS coordinators have also been exposed to the coronavirus, and so the distribution of some packages has had to be suspended.

In some cases, due to the shortage of some materials needed for chip production, UP’s telco partners could not roll out the devices fast enough, Gonzalo said.

With insufficient resources, Mark worries about how he can cope with the new academic year. He has no other choice but to wait, he said.

Rectifying Lapses

The university’s concerned offices are already exploring other ways to resolve distribution issues, Student Regent Renee Co told the Collegian.

For instance, the lengthy qualification process could be further streamlined to forgo the involvement of too many offices. At present, it starts with the student’s application submitted to the constituent unit, passed on to UP System, and finally to the telecom provider.

Gonzalo said that SLAS application periods for AY 2021-2022 were set in an earlier time than last year to allow an early evaluation of the applications. This would also give ample time for the distribution of packages considering the delays that may yet again occur due to the global chip shortage.

The OSFA and UP’s telecom partners have met to identify other problems that may arise in the next academic year, Gonzalo added. They have discussed lead times to better facilitate the distribution of the packages.

The OSFA already submitted its budget proposals to all concerned offices as early as midyear to ensure that resources would be available for distribution as soon as students get qualified for SLAS grants.

But these points for improvement are being addressed for the benefit of the applicants in the next academic year. The rest of those who applied last year, like Mark, will still be left waiting for the support that the university has promised them.

Co shares the same frustrations as SLAS grantees. “Ito lang ang only way nila of attaining the education that we are being forced to receive in these trying times. If they don’t get this assistance, they do not get it at the same pace that everyone else is getting, and therefore, students are left behind,” she said.

Even with the best of efforts, Co said, students will still be left behind as long as online learning drags on. It is high time, she added, for the UP administration and the government to heed students’ campaign for Ligtas na Balik Eskwela.

Among the unfortunate realities of the remote learning setup is that students have to keep up with their classes despite their differences in access to remote learning resources. Having experienced it firsthand, Mark stressed that online learning has only favored those with privileges.

“Given that I was raised in a middle-class family, we don’t have enough resources nor the machinery for our daily needs, and most especially, for my studies. This pandemic made us realize that our situation can get worse in just two to three months,” he said.

Even students who have all the resources at their disposal still find the current setup difficult, Mark said, because they could not get quality education just by learning through their laptop screens.

“I fear that, when I graduate, I will be incompetent because of this system of just attending classes to pass the semester and [comply with] the requirements,” he said. ●

*not his real name