NYC launches action desk with stude groups
The government agency charged with the mandate of youth development has taken notice of recent headlines concerning perennial student concerns.
Speaking with student groups, the National Youth Commission (NYC) raised numerous alarming student concerns, topping the list of which is the absence of student consultation in tuition fee increases, which has continuously earned the ire of students and their parents, and has generated public debate. Moreover, the NYC expressed its distress over the terrifying news pertaining to the deaths of college students, which is being linked with inadequate campus security measures. The NYC and the student groups also revealed the growing incidence of discrimination cases in school campuses.
This barrage of student- related concerns prompted the NYC to launch an action desk to respond to these enduring student issues. Framing these concerns within the ambit of students’ rights and welfare (STRAW), the NYC launched the STRAW Desk at a press launch in Quezon City.
The launch was spearheaded by Commissioner Gio Tingson, the focal person for the STRAW Desk program and supported by Chairman Leon Flores III, Commissioners Percival Cendaña and Georgina Nava. Also present during the launch were UP Diliman’s first transgender University Student Council Chairperson Heart Diño, UPLB USC Councilor Katherine Miller, UPLB College of Economics and Management Councilor Joseph Angelo Gutierrez, as well as Nice Coronacion, representing the Alliance of Progressive Labor- Youth and Moses Albiento, head of the STRAW Coalition.
“The STRAW Desk concretizes the NYC’S support for the passage of the Student Rights and Welfare Bill. In its full capacity, we expect to provide mechanism for reporting of violations to student rights and proper intervention. It will also increase awareness of student rights. We don’t need students getting killed to respond to school security issues; we shouldn’t wait for tuition and other fees to increase exorbitantly for us to do something about it. We need to be preventing these issues from happening,” states Commissioner Tingson.
The student representatives expressed their support for the STRAW Desk, hoping that the program will help address basic issues such as discrimination and bullying in campuses, crime and security, increases in tuition and other fees, as well as other student- related concerns. They hope that the project will systematize the transmission of violations to students’ rights so that they may be addressed by government officials or school administrators and strengthen the voice of the youth in issues related to them.
The STRAW Coalition also cites that this project is a big step in making the national government more aware of the situation of students based in other cities and provinces outside of Metro Manila. Records of student right violations will also support the need for the passage of the STRAW bill and the enactment of a Magna Carta for Student Rights in all schools.
To prevent complainants from being subjected to harassment, the STRAW Desk will allow students to send in complaints anonymously and track their status. The STRAW Desk will also ensure that the filed concerns will be directed to the proper authorities for their response.