Student’s lament

The words “Scientia et Veritas per Educationem” are inscribed in Cebu Velez College’s logo. A quick Google Translate visit would reveal that it means, “Truth and Knowledge through Education.”

Our classes are going to start on November 12. A week’s delay that would ensure our classes would end on the Holy Week of 2013, or the week after. But that’s not the problem. The bigger question is whether or not we are going to have classes at all.

As of this writing, 15 members of the College of Arts and Sciences faculty have already been dismissed. What’s worse, the HR manager was unable to provide grounds for dismissal upon request. As for the teachers who are staying, they are “convinced” to sign an agreement to work for 40 hours a week for a derisive salary equivalent to just 24 working hours. An absence during that period would entail salary deductions. In a nutshell, you get deductions even if you work 16 hours more for free.

I’ve always thought our tuition, which range from P30,000 to more than P40,000, go to our professors. Seeing our classrooms as being horror-booths-to-be and facilities, which are ridiculously aged and museum-worthy (if we even have any), we could easily ask, where else does our money go? Pockets. Whose pockets? Even a grade-schooler could answer that.

It’s disappointing how I’ve always admired the Velez administration for being able to establish such a prestigious name.

We worry so much about teachers who give nerve-racking exams that we spend sleepless nights and consume innumerable amounts of caffeine to prepare for, when in fact, we should be thankful that they even spend time for those test papers. 70% of our tuition supposedly goes to them, but I don’t think they get the exact amount, nor the benefits and the bonuses it entails.

These teachers, who we sometimes have contempt for being unforgiving, have an unforgiving boss, as well. These teachers are the ones who deserve my admiration, our admiration. These teachers are the ones who kept the standards high. These teachers deserve more than just mediocre salary. These teachers deserve to be fought for.

Every time a friend of mine visits, they see classrooms that are worse than their expectations. I couldn’t explain where our money goes. We even have a medical fee when we still have to pay for services when we get sick; a dental fee when, as I have heard, we don’t have a dentist at the ready; an athletic fee when we don’t have a varsity team representing us at the CESAFI or any other event; a library fee when the librarian lets us repair the already-damaged books we borrow; the library itself is a historical site. We clearly do not get what we paid for.

Scientia et Veritas per Educationem? I believe they must add the word Virtus in there somewhere. They push us for academic excellence, they seem to forget we need to have virtues as well — and they are setting as bad role models.

Our Supreme Student Council, the supposed voice of the students, still “haven’t arrived to a single final conclusion as to where they stand.” They heard the opinion of the administration and the faculty, they didn’t ask for what the students thought. They want it “unbiased and without any possible cover-ups.” If you are a member of the SSC, I want to tell you you are not acting as the SSC, you are acting as journalists. That is not your job, we need you to represent us.

If you are a student like me, it’s high time we take our stand. We take our stand for our teachers and we take it firm. Let us keep praying for the best.