THE SAMAHAN ng Progresibong Kabataan reiterated its call for an academic break amid the continuous surge in Covid19 cases in the country.

“Students have had enough and with their councils and organizations across the Greater Manila Area are pushing for an academic break/ease. What we immediately need is the time and space to be able to breathe from the madness and irrationality of the Duterte regime and the capitalist system,” it said in a statement.

“But more than an academic break, students are also demanding free mass testing, subsidies, employment plans and free mass vaccination,” it added.

The group said it represents students and their families who are being left behind and supports all initiatives calling for an academic break.

SPARK also denounced officials of the Commission on Higher Education and Department of Education who are  “detached” from the plight of their constituents.

“It is their inefficiency and non-intervention that burdens students to turn to their own school administrations for a much-needed break. We maintain our revulsion towards the cold-blooded institutions,” the group said.

SPARK, meanwhile, commended the University of Santo Tomas and University of the East faculty unions for supporting the students’ demand for an academic break.

“We call on the other faculty unions to lead the studentry and pave the way for a broad united front for our common interests. By raising our collective voices, we will move forward where no student is left behind and all faculty members justly enjoy the fruits of their labor,” it said.