BY ASANGAN T. MADALE
COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION (CHED) Chair J. de Vera III instructed the University President lawyer Basari D. Mapupuno during the en banc meeting of MSU Board Regents held at CHED Board Room to implement several adjustments, so their students could cope with school requirements after the suspension of classes due to the explosion ripped through the Gymnasium and killed four (4) and injured several others early this month, Top Officials said.
President lawyer Mapupuno briefed Prospero de Vera III and the members of regents and the Chancellors of the various campuses on the measures adopted by the University in the aftermath of the bombings, where Mapupuno was lauded by De Vera III for allowing its students to be given an incomplete grade and another semester to complete their academic requirements in the aftermath of the bombing incident.
“As the Chairperson of the MSU Board, I commend President Mapupuno and other university officials for immediately strengthening safety and security measures in the Marawi campus to bring back the confidence of students, faculty and employees that MSU will remain a zone of peace in the coming months,” De Vera III said.
“As a policy adopted by the Board of Regents, students who are distressed and traumatized, especially those who underwent counseling, and who feel they cannot continue their studies, will be given a non-numerical grade and another semester to complete their requirements. We need to address the mental health situation of the students,” De Vera added. For the affected students who are scholars of government institutions and organizations, MSU will be sending a letter of request for consideration to these scholarship-granting institutions to ensure the scholarship status of the students will not be affected.
“For those scholarships given by the university, we will relax the rules. I have also instructed the OVCCA to send letters to the scholarship-giving institutions to consider our students,” said MSU President Basari D. Mapupuno.
As of yesterday, under the declaration of all government security agencies such as PNP and AFP, that the university is safe to resume classes, classes in the MSU-Marawi campus have been resumed, and around 1300 students have returned to the campus for face-to-face classes.
About 2000 students were picked up by their LGU to return home at the request of their parents. To assist these students in returning to the campus for face-to-face classes, free transportation assistance is being given by the university through pick-up points for students in adjoining cities and provinces.
CHED will be providing additional financial assistance to the affected students in the blast by including them as Tulong Dunong beneficiaries for school year 2023-2024.
Mapupuno also informed the MSU Board that the PNP had already arrested the suspected accomplice of the incident. CHED urged the constituents of the MSU and other HEIs to continuously enhance the security of their campuses and strengthen their cooperation with government security agencies.
“While we are advancing our instruction, research, and extension, we will not lower our guards in protecting our students,” Mapupuno expressed.
“We will not be deterred by this act of violence, we will continue to work towards ensuring that our HEIs remain a place of safety for our students,” De Vera III said.
