EDITORIAL: Three days in, the Angelite community has already witnessed the weaknesses of the online class setup. We have our share of nerve-wracking moments and even resort to comical measures in an attempt to understand discussions or simply get in a video conference.
It is significant to emphasize that the system we have at present is clearly imperfect and must be subjected to scrutiny, critiques, and reforms. The Holy Angel University administration along with faculty members, must be open to criticisms and demands that are soon to come from the student body. Efforts are now being taken, appeals and remarks will be compiled which will be lobbied to the university administration and faculty. As the university publication, it is our role to be on guard that these demands will be met without any compromises.
It is more than unfortunate that the vast majority of students lack the proper resources to push through with online instructions. With the project of the university to lend 1,000 tablets, in which we greatly acknowledge, the one-gigabyte RAM tablet will not suffice for data and memory consuming the online class setup. The purpose of the donation drive in the first place is to aid students who do not have gadgets, however, the donation drive is pointless if the tablets are unusable. It is a shame if the donors who donated their own resources during the pandemic will be wasted because the beneficiaries themselves cannot maximize and enjoy the tablet that they borrowed. Meanwhile, the School of Engineering and Architecture students are also having issues with virtual laboratories and applications that require high specifications which most students do not have access to.
Besides the fact that the online mode of instruction is expensive, The Angelite received reports as well regarding the synchronous and asynchronous mode of teaching. It is very clear that the new system has many flaws and so it must be given space for further improvement and criticisms.
These dreaded experiences became the impetus of the student body to unite and collaborate to conduct a wide and mass crowdsourcing to gather information and inputs from the Angelites themselves. The administration and faculty shall expect in the days to come a flood of demands, statements, editorials, and petitions which must be acknowledged and met without contest.
Now is the time to rise to the occasion, the student leaders must amplify the calls of the student body and relentlessly lobby them to the administration. What we need is for the student body to voice out their concerns, without this collective voice there will be nothing for the leaders to bring on the table. This week the student body will be able to participate and give their inputs in a survey that will be conducted by College Student Councils and college publications in partnership with the University Student Council, The Angelite, and Anakbayan HAU.
The horrible system of blended online learning is a just symptom of a bigger crisis brought upon the corrupted and despicable Duterte administration. The majority of the youth are facing similar problems and unless the Duterte administration will do its job of making sure that adequate and safe education will be delivered to the youth, then we shall expect the same or worst conditions that the Filipino youth will have to face during this pandemic.
