"Mock board" passing score lowered

ILOILO CITY, Philippines - A compromise was reached between the University of Iloilo-Phinma and the protesting Criminology and Nursing students, and this enabled about half of the latter to graduate.

The UI-Phinma board decided to slash the passing score of the controversial "mock board exams" from the raw score of 75 to only 40. The result: Of the 203 graduating Criminology students, 106 passed while 97 did not make it.

Eric Barro, UI-Phinma chief marketing officer, said the 97 students agreed to take a refresher, which will start on April 11 until May. "It will be given for free. They will have to undergo an examination again. If they pass, we will have a special graduation for them," he said.

In the case of nursing students, only 136 students applied for graduation, not 665 as earlier reported in the media. "True, there were 665 senior nursing students. But only 136 applied for graduation because the others know that they lack the necessary requirements, such as passing the school's comprehensive exam," Barro said.

The result: Of the 136, only 97 graduated during the March 26 commencement exercises.

Like those in the Criminology, the nursing students also agreed to take a free refresher course for three weeks. "Once they pass the subject, the UI-Phinma management will also hold a special graduation for them. In case the students could not still pass the exam, they might be required to re-enrol the subject, Barro told The FREEMAN.

Contrary to the students' perception, UI-Phinma marketing officer Jojo de Luna clarified that the examination given to Criminology students was not a "mock board." It was a final examination for their subject Review Seminar 1, which was the sole basis in passing the subject, he said.

When the 203 students all flunked in the examination, they also lost their chance of graduating until the passing score was lowered from 75 to 40.

Earlier, the students contended that the "mock board" was not legal because it was not in their curriculum. De Luna however said the students and parents were briefed earlier of the semester about the final examination for the course.

"For the record, we had an assembly with students and parents. They were aware of it. We did our part in communicating with them but that might not be enough. What we will do is to strengthen our communication channels with them," de Luna said.

Barro added that the new system might have stunned the students. "Nasanay na kasi sila sa system before. They tend to compare themselves with those who graduated ahead of them," he said.

He however acknowledged the changes might have been too drastic. "So, we would do it gradually. For now, 40 muna ang passing score. But next year, we would increase it until we would have that 75 benchmark," he said.

Barro also confirmed that they had threshed out issues hounding the Nursing Department: From the P23,000 payment for the Enhancement Nursing to the P1,000 Emergency Nursing seminar. "We made them understand it's important in preparation for the board exam. It is a recap of topics from the first year to fourth year," he said.

Since it is in partnership with review schools, the fee will mainly go to instructors. The students allegedly agreed to initially pay P15,000. They then made to pay P8,000 before the school year ends. After which, they will have to undergo a comprehensive examination.  (FREEMAN)