MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education is currently investigating a public high school’s handling of a student cheating incident to determine if its personnel had violated any laws in carrying out the school’s rules against academic dishonesty.
The laboratory high school of the Rizal Technological University has been asked to submit an incident report to DepEd explaining the death of a Grade 7 student in its own premises last week, DepEd National Capital Region Director Wilfredo Cabral said in an interview with Sen. Raffy Tulfo in his "Wanted sa Radyo" radio show on Wednesday.
“What we’ll be checking based on the report that will be submitted to us is if (what the teachers said) to the student is part of their (school) manual,” Cabral said in a mix of English and Filipino.
“When a teacher commits a violation, this is handled by the school’s management. But at the Regional Office, we will look at whether it’s the school itself that committed a violation in handling cases like this,” Cabral said.
DepEd also told Philstar.com in a message that its Learner Rights and Protection Office is also looking into the incident.
This comes after a Grade 7 student of the high school department of RTU died by suicide last week on campus, as confirmed by his parents and the Mandaluyong City police on Tulfo’s radio show. The university released a statement last Thursday confirming the student’s death and vowed to be transparent about its investigation into what transpired prior to the student’s death.
Speaking on the same radio show, the Grade 7 student’s parents said that their child most likely experienced extreme emotional distress after being caught and reprimanded by their teacher for cheating during a test.
While the parents said they were told by the school that the child’s teachers “spoke gently” and “did not utter the word ‘suspension’” to the student, they said they found a piece of paper among the student’s belongings indicating that he was informed of his suspension.
“We recovered a piece of paper among our child’s belongings that he left neatly arranged (before he died)... We found a piece of paper with his handwriting containing the words: ‘Tabulating machine ios’ and ‘I’m suspended’” the student’s father, Miguel Magdato Jr., said in Filipino. Based on the piece of paper presented during Tulfo’s show, the note also appeared to have a doodle of a sad face.
Cabral declined to comment on whether the school was correct in suspending the student but acknowledged that the punishment for a one-time offense of cheating was “slightly abrupt.”
“I want to know if it’s a school policy or just something the teacher said,” Cabral said.
Cabral said, however, that it cannot impose a sanction on the school if it is found to have committed a violation as Rizal Technological University is a state university and under the administration of the Commission on Higher Education. While it runs a laboratory high school, this is considered a "non-DepEd" school and out of their jurisdiction.
Philstar.com has reached out to DepEd for clarification on the actual procedure it will follow in investigating the incident and will update this story with their response.
What’s in the school manual?
The guidance counselor of RTU’s high school department, Rodrigo Tomas, said that it was the class advisor administering the examination who caught the student cheating. The test was reportedly for the Computer Science subject.
“We explained to the parents of the student yesterday how the teachers approached their child. Basically (the class adviser) asked the student why his notes were left open during an exam. According to the class adviser’s account, the student did not respond and had just closed their notes and submitted their test paper,” Tomas said in Filipino.
Tomas said that the Grade 7 student was told they were still allowed to take the tests for other subjects the next day. “But he was also brought to the (Computer Science) teacher,” Tomas added.
Tomas said that the school's protocol in handling cheating incidents is to bring the parents in for a dialogue, and if needed, to elevate the case to the discipline office.
Tomas said that the school manual considers cheating to be a "serious offense," of which a punishment of up to five days suspension "with official warning" may be imposed, but only after the case is brought up to the discipline office.
P/SSG. Jericho Baria of the Mandaluyong City Police told Tulfo that it had ruled out foul play in the death of the student and said that he was declared “dead on arrival” after being rushed to the hospital.
Two lawmakers have expressed concern over the student's death and batted for increased mental health interventions in schools to prevent a rise in suicide cases.
In a statement, Sen. Mark Villar cited the urgent need to pass a law that will institutionalize suicide intervention services across the country by ensuring that psychologists are deployed to every school.
RELATED: Lack of guidance counselors hampers prevention of student suicides
Rep. Angelica Natasha Co (BHW Partylist), chairperson of the House panel on children's welfare, said that other cases of student suicides have also been reported since the start of in-person classes in September.
Co said that she will not be calling for a congressional inquiry into the incident at RTU and that she would prefer that the "concerned executive agencies" properly do their jobs first.
"I also ask the Commission on Higher Education to ascertain administrative liability and make sure the necessary social welfare interventions are done for the bereaved family and schoolmates," Co said.
If you or someone you know needs help, the National Center for Mental Health Crisis Hotline can be reached through the following hotlines: toll-free Luzon-wide landline (1553), Globe/TM (0966-351-4518 and 0917-899-8727), or Smart/Sun/TNT (0908-639-2672).