UNIVERSITY of the East stood firm on its decision to permanently close its Electronics Engineering program effective at the end of second semester of Academic Year 2020-2021 despite strong opposition from students, faculty members, and alumni.

In a report by the school’s publication Redwire, ECE students in UE-Manila on Friday received notice on their student portal informing them of closure of the program.

“In view of the above, all ECE students including returnees are no longer allowed to enroll in Manila campus under the same program effective Summer 2021,” the notice wrote.

“The Dean’s Office will assist and facilitate the immediate transfer of students to Caloocan Campus or for shifting to another program offered by the University,” it added.

UE also directed affected students to email the Registrar’s Office at [email protected] for the processing of their credentials should they plan to transfer to other college or university.

Earlier this week, University President Ester Garcia said the closure of the program is based on ‘valid and existing grounds’.

“Relatedly, and contrary to the ludicrous assertion of the Student Council, the ECE program of the University was introduced for the purpose of educating and in the process, producing engineers and not merely technicians,” Garcia said in a letter to the Commission on Higher Education.

She added the passing percentage in ECE boards of UE-Manila for the last 10 years yielded ‘only an average result and always lower than the national passing rate’.