Students and the faculty of the University of the East filed a petition asking school officials to suspend synchronous classes from April 6 to 8.

The UE-Caloocan Central Student Council and UE Faculty Association said that the increasing number of Covid19 cases heightened the anxiety and stress of learners and their families.

“Again, we are requesting your esteemed office to reconsider academic break by suspending synchronous sessions. Furthermore, deadlines of activities, quizzes, and examinations to be moved next week,” UE-CSC and UE-FA said in a letter to university president Ester Garcia.

Garcia earlier rejected the appeal of the student councils of UE Manila and Caloocan campuses for an academic break.

She said that enhanced community quarantine is “not a reason” to suspend classes.

However, the student group and faculty union stressed that learners should not be expected to “always adopt an improper learning environment.”

“We would like to make it clear that our intention is not to merely obtain extensions of deadlines. The break we are asking for is in consideration of the students’ well-being and mental health that arises as a result of the imposition of ECQ,” they said.

They pointed out that Garcia must realize that neglecting welfare and effective learning will also mean “neglect to the right of the quality of education that the university is aiming for.”

“Other neighboring universities in the University Belt have already acknowledged the necessity of this break despite our online setup. We sincerely hope that through this, the administration would get to recognize the problem that other educational institutions have realized,” they said.