THE UNIVERSITY of the East on Monday rejected students’ appeal to postpone the opening of classes for the 2nd semester of Academic Year 2021-2022.

UE President Ester Garcia affirmed that classes will push through on January 17.

“We will start as scheduled on Jan 17. Many of the schools who are suspending classes are almost on their finals period for first semester,” Garcia said.

“We are starting a new semester and all online. I do not see the need to cancel classes,” she added.

Garcia, however, admitted that the school may change its decision depending on the health and wellness of students and faculty.

“This does not mean that this decision is cast in stone. We continue to assess the situation and decide accordingly,” the UE President stressed.

Earlier, student groups asked Garcia to move the opening of classes from Jan. 17 to Jan. 22 and extend the enrollment period because of the reimposition of Alert Level 3 in Metro Manila.

The groups said that delaying class opening will give ample time to the students and their families to deal with the “health and financial complications brought about by the Omicron variant surge.”