LFS rues discrimination in UPCAT

Agroup protecting students’ right to quality education asked the government to allow all Grade 10 students to take college entrance examinations and graduate from high school next year, charging that it was unfair that only high school seniors from Miriam College, Xavier School and Colegio de San Agustin were able to take the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT) last Sunday.

The League of Filipino Students (LFS) issued the statement after officials of the University of the Philippines (UP) confirmed that students from the three schools were able to take the UPCAT.

Reports obtained by the LFS showed that the Department of Education (DepEd) permitted the three schools to offer Senior High School (SHS) under the K to 12 scheme for academic year 2015-2016 but LFS stressed the permission “did not mean its high school seniors will graduate from SHS this year or even next year.”

“Why were these students allowed to take the UPCAT when there will be no graduating high school class in the entire country next year?” the LFS asked.

The youth group commiserated with the tens of thousands of qualified high seniors who were not able to take the UPCAT since many schools abided by DepEd orders for the seniors to go straight to Grade 11 next year.

Charisse Bañez, LFS national spokesperson, said DepEd was being unjust and discriminatory for allowing Grade 10 students from Miriam College, Xavier School and Colegio de San Agustin to take the UPCAT while denying the same privilege to others.

The LFS argued that if the three schools implemented SHS only this school year, then their students would currently be in Grade 11, meaning they will not have a single graduate “ready” for UPCAT as yet.

“If these reports were, indeed, true, then all current Grade 10 students should be allowed to take college entrance tests as well. Universities and colleges should in turn process these applications,” Bañez said.

LFS asked the Aquino government to immediately stop the K to 12 program and confer the graduation of Grade 10 students in March 2016.

“President Aquino should not bar millions of young Filipinos from entering college and deprive them of their right to tertiary education and a shot at a better future,” the youth leader added.

Bañez, citing data from the Department of Education (DepEd), said that at least two million grade 10 (4th year) students will not graduate from high school next year due to the full implementation of K to 12, which adds two years to high school.

Based on news reports, the number of high school students who took the UPCAT on Sunday plunged to 6,000 from 87,000 in 2014.

“UPCAT is done. Most of the country’s top universities and colleges would have finished their admission tests before the year ends. Meanwhile, the SC has yet to decide on petitions pending before it. Grade 10 students should be allowed to process their college applications now,” Bañez said.