Student councils across the De La Salle University (DLSU) System are calling for a two-week academic break following the destruction brought by typhoon "Ulysses."
In a statement released Sunday (Nov. 15), One La Salle for Human Rights and Democracy called for students, professors, and school employees to be offered their "right to recover" after the devastating typhoon through a system-wide academic break.
"The state of our educational system was further aggravated by the successive typhoons that have ravaged the Philippines in the past three weeks. The recent calamities have posed a grave threat not only to the safety and well-being of students, but also to the infrastructures that are requisite to the students' access to education and the teachers' and administrators' ability to fulfill their duties," the statement read.
"This calls for a two-week suspension of both synchronous and asynchronous classes with no graded requirement and the postponement of university activities, especially the collection of tuition and other fees. Herewith, the professors and school employees must not be deprived of their salaries and wages amidst the proposed academic break," it added.
The group also asked the university to postpone the online undergraduate pre-enlistment scheduled Monday (Nov. 16) to Friday (Nov. 20).
It likewise proposed to the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to implement a "No Fail Policy" nationwide to alleviate the burden of the students.
"The calamities that struck have indeed left our people handicapped, most without any homes and in need of food and clothes. Thus, we call for an immediate comprehensive, and properly-funded response from the national government to the victims of Typhoon Rolly and Typhoon Ulysses," it added.
Earlier, Ateneo de Manila University students called for a strike as a protest against the "national government's criminally neglectful response" to the recent typhoons and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both DLSU and ADMU said they will both ease academic workload for one week starting Nov. 16 to Nov. 21.