CHED lauds MSU graduates
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) lauded the recent graduates of Mindanao State University (MSU) of Marawi City, who earned their college degrees despite the ongoing clashes between the military and a local terrorist group.
In her message to this year’s graduates, CHED Chairperson Patricia Licuanan expressed her admiration and congratulated the students who completed their tertiary education.
The MSU Main Campus held simple commencement rites and handed diplomas to the graduates last week, July 13, at the MSU Iligan Institute of Technology (IIT) in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte.
Licuanan said that CHED expresses its admiration to the graduates of MSU-Marawi who were caught in the tension in the embattled city in the previous months.
She noted that “while it would have been easy to succumb to despair and surrender the quest to achieve their dreams,” the MSU graduates “showed resilience and faith and ultimately obtained their degrees, despite difficult odds.”
The MSU main campus, according to its President Dr. Habib Macaayong, has a student population of around 17,000 and a teacher population of at least 1,000. The total number of students to graduate this school year is 2,200 but not all of them were able to attend the graduation rites.
Licuanan also commended the graduates for having “endured and overcome the trials” of the past two months. She also urged them not to lose hope because “the society needs more young men and women who strive to be firm and steadfast in the face of adversity, and who are, by their experiences, made intensely aware of themselves and their potentials to help those around them.”
This year’s MSU-Marawi graduates, Licuanan said, will “undoubtedly contribute greatly to the safety, rehabilitation, and development of their region, and to eventual peace in Mindanao” just like those who “that came before them.”
The classes for the incoming school year 2017-2018 are scheduled to start on August 7. The enrolment will begin on July 31.
Earlier, CHED also urged all higher education institutions (HEIs) nationwide to extend any possible form of assistance for the students affected by the month-long crisis in Marawi City.
One of the assistance that CHED offices and HEIs can provide, Licuanan said, may involve “admission of all affected student/enrollees/transferees who are unable to present proper academic records/credentials due to disruption of HEI operations pending the resumption of the regular operations and proper processing of documents.”