Opinion: The Best Option for AY 2021-2022 UPCAT Admissions

11/27/2020 12:05:00 PM Media Center 0 Comments

After weeks of deliberation, the University of the Philippines (UP) finally announced that the UP college admissions test (UPCAT) for AY 2021-2022 is cancelled. As of recent news the university is currently creating an algorithm to fit the applicants’ circumstances.

According to a statement released last October 27, 2020 by the Office of Admissions Director Francisco de los Reyes, UP experts came up with five possible actions for next school year’s college admissions after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the yearly scheduled in-person entrance exam. The options posted are the following (as published on UP's official website):

1) A paper-and-pen administration of the UPCAT, subject to IATF and LGU COVID-19 protocols and coordination;

2) An online UPCAT;

3) A hybrid paper-and-pen and online mode for UPCAT;

4) A no-UPCAT scenario where UP may mine data from the applicant’s personal data sheet, high school records, the specific high school and performance of its graduates in UP, etc., to arrive at the University Predicted Grade (UPG);

5) A moratorium on freshman admission. 

Given these options, the Board of Regents weighed all the pros and cons to decide what would best benefit the incoming freshmen, the staff, and most importantly, the Philippines as a whole.

The first option, which is the paper-and-pen examination, has been proven effective over the past years. However, amidst a global pandemic, this would not have been the best decision to make. Yearly, there are around 100,000 applicants who take the UPCAT. This poses a potential health risk to the examinees and could easily contribute to the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Furthermore, if this option had been chosen, the possibility of cheating among applicants would be greater since UP might have to extend the period of examination in order to strictly follow the health protocols. This would have led to examinees sharing information about the test questions and the students who will take the exam later will have an advantage because of this.

The second option, an online UPCAT, has the advantage of being safer and more accessible. However, this ease of access would only apply to those who have the privilege of a stable internet connection and a well-functioning device. Sadly, the Philippines ranks as one of the countries with the worst and most expensive internet connections in the world, according to VPN provider Surfshark’s 2020 Digital Quality of Life Index. Much like with the first option, cheating is also possible since there would be no observers to make sure that examinees do not use sources around them to look for the answers.

The third option, a combination of paper-and-pen and online UPCAT was also considered. It might seem like a great compromise, but the problem was that it most likely had the same set of disadvantages as the first two. With no further information released by the university, not much is known as to how UP would administer this kind of testing. 

The fourth option on the list is using the applicant's personal record as the basis of admission. This scenario is most likely to be administered now that there is no UPCAT. This is also the current admission process in other universities such as the Ateneo De Manila University and the University of Sto. Tomas. Among the five options, it is the most ideal because not only does it ensure the safety of the examinees, it also lessens the possibility of cheating. In addition, it is the most plausible since UP has a standardized system of evaluating an applicant's grade. This system is called the University Predicted Grade (UPG), which is designed to evaluate an examinee's academic performance using their test scores in the UPCAT and high school records. 

The final option on the list is having a moratorium on freshman admission. This is considered a last resort and would have been the worst arrangement because of the expected damages that it will bring to the country. First, those who cannot afford quality education ("underprivileged" ) whom the university mostly caters to, would be left with even lesser options. These people would have to find other alternatives such as loans or might need to temporarily halt their education altogether. Moreover, some teachers and university staff may have lost their sources of income for an entire academic year. The country’s economic status would also be expected to plummet, as a result of unemployment and a lack of fresh graduates.

The history of UPG started in the 1970s when a resolution was passed to combine the three-year high school average and the College Admissions Test scores. The UPCAT back then was 80% based on the subtest portion while the remaining 20% was based on high school grades. After a series of studies, they found out that high school grades should be given more weight in grading the applicant. It was not until 1976 that Prof. Romeo Manlapaz improved it by changing into the 60-40 grading system that we know today. This was when UPG, the system that we currently use, was officially born. 

The purpose of this system is to promote equity and ensure that each applicant is properly screened. So in 1998, UP improved the UPG system by introducing the Excellence-Equity Admissions System (EEAS). This system makes sure that the applicants are fairly treated because the EEAS adjusts the UPG of applicants using a palugit and pabigat. The palugit gives a bonus of 0.5 on their UPG if an applicant comes from a public barangay, public vocational, or public general high schools, excluding those administered by state universities and colleges and science high schools or if they belong to a minority group. The pabigat on the other hand gives a penalty to the applicant’s scores which is the opposite of palugit. This happens when a student applies for a campus that is not near his or her locality. Thanks to the EEAS, people from all sectors have a fair chance of getting admitted into UP.

As previously stated, an in-person conduct of the test is not recommended due to the country’s current circumstances. The next best option is to utilize the existing UPG system by taking an applicant’s personal data sheet, high school records, and performance into consideration, thereby leveling the playing field for the examinees. In addition, a written output in the form of an essay might also serve as a great substitute for the written component in the computation for UPG.

In the end, the Board of Regents is heading the right direction by choosing to forgo the UPCAT. It is unfortunate but as of now this is the most reasonable option that the BOR can take in these times of difficulty. //by Christine Caparas and Simon Delfinado

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