craig aquino,
This academic year has marked the first time the University of the Philippines Integrated School (UPIS) has had Grade 12 students.
Despite the addition of these grade levels to the student body, it seems that there is no place for the Grade 11 to 12 students — also called Senior High School (SHS) students — in the Pamunuan ng Kamag-Aral (PKA), the student council of UPIS.
According to former Assistant Principal for Academic Programs (APAP) Prof. Zenaida P. Bojo, the exclusion of SHS students from PKA was for their own good. SHS students have a heavier workload than those in Junior High School (JHS), and membership in the student government would add undue stress. Their priorities and concerns, different from JHS students’, may also make it more difficult for them to participate in PKA.
The SHS students must focus mainly on their tracks in order to fulfill the purpose of the K-12 system: preparation for tertiary education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship. PKA duties would only be a distraction from that.
The PKA, as the student council democratically elected by the student body, represents the students of UPIS. They are meant to be the voice of the students when they have an issue to bring up to the school administration or others. With the exclusion of the SHS students from PKA, how then would they be able to voice out their issues with the school? In what way can they reach out to the administration without representation?
The answer: track representatives.
Two representatives are chosen per track, and they have functions similar to class officers. They serve as mediators between the students of each track and the track advisers. Through the track advisers, they could, theoretically, represent SHS students to the administration.
Despite this ‘solution’, the heavier workload should be no excuse to exclude SHS students from the student council. Participation in it is voluntary, and therefore a burden accepted by whoever chooses to run. If an SHS student thinks they can handle the responsibility, why should they be disallowed from taking such?
It also makes it more difficult to voice out their opinions and needs to the school administration. Although it can be argued that the track representatives can represent them enough, being part of the student council may better their chances of being heard.
SHS students are excluded from certain school activities, events, and other agenda given to Grades 7-10 students. They are isolated from the lower batches because they have different priorities and things to focus on.
Despite this, they are still part of the student body of UPIS, and as such should have representation in the student council.//by Craig Aquino and Marlyn Go
Opinion: Missing Representatives
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| Photo Credit: Ezra Bustamante |
This academic year has marked the first time the University of the Philippines Integrated School (UPIS) has had Grade 12 students.
Despite the addition of these grade levels to the student body, it seems that there is no place for the Grade 11 to 12 students — also called Senior High School (SHS) students — in the Pamunuan ng Kamag-Aral (PKA), the student council of UPIS.
According to former Assistant Principal for Academic Programs (APAP) Prof. Zenaida P. Bojo, the exclusion of SHS students from PKA was for their own good. SHS students have a heavier workload than those in Junior High School (JHS), and membership in the student government would add undue stress. Their priorities and concerns, different from JHS students’, may also make it more difficult for them to participate in PKA.
The SHS students must focus mainly on their tracks in order to fulfill the purpose of the K-12 system: preparation for tertiary education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship. PKA duties would only be a distraction from that.
The PKA, as the student council democratically elected by the student body, represents the students of UPIS. They are meant to be the voice of the students when they have an issue to bring up to the school administration or others. With the exclusion of the SHS students from PKA, how then would they be able to voice out their issues with the school? In what way can they reach out to the administration without representation?
The answer: track representatives.
Two representatives are chosen per track, and they have functions similar to class officers. They serve as mediators between the students of each track and the track advisers. Through the track advisers, they could, theoretically, represent SHS students to the administration.
Despite this ‘solution’, the heavier workload should be no excuse to exclude SHS students from the student council. Participation in it is voluntary, and therefore a burden accepted by whoever chooses to run. If an SHS student thinks they can handle the responsibility, why should they be disallowed from taking such?
It also makes it more difficult to voice out their opinions and needs to the school administration. Although it can be argued that the track representatives can represent them enough, being part of the student council may better their chances of being heard.
SHS students are excluded from certain school activities, events, and other agenda given to Grades 7-10 students. They are isolated from the lower batches because they have different priorities and things to focus on.
Despite this, they are still part of the student body of UPIS, and as such should have representation in the student council.//by Craig Aquino and Marlyn Go
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