AN ALLIANCE of student groups blamed the present administration for the suicide of several students whose deaths were allegedly linked to the shift to online classes.

Bukluran Student Alliance said that the Duterte administration is ‘accountable’ for the death of at least four students.

A 21-year-old student in Bicol was reported to have taken her own life over alleged worries about the requirements for distant learning.

The case brings to three the number of deaths related to online classes in the Bicol region.

The alliance noted that the deaths could have been prevented had the government prepared better for the education sector.

“More than just numbers, they had names, families, friends, and dreams ahead of them. Their deaths could have been prevented  if only our education system were truly humane and compassionate to the most marginalized students,” Bukluran Student Alliance wrote on Facebook.

The group bared its plan to hold a ‘National Day of Mourning’ on September 18, to remember those ‘who were allegedly failed by a broken educational system’.

The statement was signed by Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan, Araullo University Political Science Society, Philippine Association of Food Technologists – Alpha, University of the Philippines Speech Communication Association, UP Circle of Landscape Architecture Students, UP Namnama, UP School of Economics Student Council, UP School of Statistics Student Council, PLM – Students Alliance of Volunteers for the Environment, Bukluran Students’ Alliance – PLM, Partido Reporma ng mga Mag-aaral ng San Luis – Alliance of Concerned Students, Stewards and Volunteers for the Earth – Philippines, Initiative for Genuine Involvement, Transparency, and Empowerment, Kabataang Kakampi ng Manggagawang Pilipino, STAND BULSU, Bulacan State University – Office of the Student Regent, and the Bulacan State University Student Government.