They were not allowed to graduate: Two nursing students sue SWU for damages

CEBU, Philippines - Two nursing students have filed a civil case for damages against their school after they were not allowed to graduate because of failing grade.

Insisting that they have passed all the academic requirements, Jervis Dreamond Leonardo and Raymart Delos Santos together with their respective parents yesterday filed a petition for mandamus and/or specific performance and damages against the Southwestern University and its officials.

Named respondents of the case were SWU president Elsa Suralta, Dean Lucris Tan, Jr. of the College of Nursing, Clinical Instructor Juliet Christi Salares and Neil Brian Villaraso.

Leonardo and Delos Santos are demanding P500,000 moral and exemplary damages including attorney’s fee and other litigation costs.

The complainants claimed that they were supposed to graduate on March 30, 2012 but the respondents prevented them from marching to receive their respective diploma because of alleged failing marks.

“Jervis and Raymart were bound to graduate with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). Their names were listed in the program for the 66th Commencement Exercises of SWU on March 30, 2012, based on the list of candidates who complied with requirements on the cut-off date,” reads the complaint.

According to them, they were required by the defendants to pay P6,215 for pinning uniform and the sums of P300 and P700 for toga rental and deposit for the graduation, respectively.

However, nine days before the graduation the complainants were told that they could not join the graduation rites because they failed in one subject, Clinical Forum 2.

“Shocked in disbelief, Jervis and Raymart politely demanded for their scholastic records, more particularly their examination notebooks, quizzes and the transmutation of their grades. Salares refused to show the class records to Jervis and Raymart. Instead, what she showed was what she termed as a summary of computation,” the complaint reads.

The students insisted that they never had failing grades in the prelim, midterm, semi-finals and even finals. But based on the computation presented by the teacher the complainants allegedly got a grade of 3.24 in the finals.

The computation was based on 70-percent of the final exams and 30 percent of the pre-board result.

The complainants are demanding the school to show the class record and to refrain from including the result of the pre-board in the computation of the final grade.

Anthony Mercado, executive assistant of the College of Nursing refused to comment on the complaint saying that the school is on the process of drafting their official statement. — (FREEMAN)