Periscope

Breaking After ‘Break’

By Chester Leangee Datoon

Like the brief period of calm skies in the eye of a hurricane, for most University of the Philippines (UP) students, the academic break does not serve as a momentary reprieve from a hectic schedule but a signal of a great catastrophe of endless workload and onslaught of examinations.

Looking back at history, the so-called “academic break” was first implemented in UP in the academic year 2014–2015 to provide students with time to rest, recharge, and engage with their hobbies or loved ones. With shifts in the national academic calendar implemented, the academic break usually occurs in the last week of October for the first semester and the week before/after the Holy Week for the second semester.

While the rationale of its implementation serves as a ‘holy grail’ for students to find temporary solitude amidst the hectic schedule and burdensome academic load in UP, reality strays far from the imagination. What should’ve been an initiative to revitalize a passion for education became a symbol of horror for students for an impending barrage of ‘hell’ weeks where students drown in academic workload due to a tighter semester calendar.

The break does not meet its intended purpose — students still do academic tasks during the allotted time to lighten the load once classes resume. Post-academic break, students constantly spend sleepless nights and miss classes in an attempt to survive the onslaught of exams and academic deliverables.

Due to this phenomenon, most students seek solace with their professors through communicating deadline extensions or moving exams. Other students find themselves airing their grievances anonymously (or not) through social media or their peers over professors who they deem ‘inconsiderate.’ However, one should not mistake the issue of the inept academic break as a student vs professor matter.

Professors, theoretically, should also benefit from the academic break. As mentors in UP, their workload is not less than that of students: checking papers, providing feedback, doing administrative matters, and the list goes on and on. UP Professors are also victims of the illusion of academic break, as they need to ensure learning competencies are met despite a constrained semester.

Nonetheless, given the effects of an academic break on UP students, it does not mean that it should be removed to provide an additional week for each semester. The break serves as a halfway point for faculty and students, a reminder that a little push and it is already the end of the semester. What needs to change is how students and faculty perceive and act after the break so that it does not lead to more burdens from each side.

Ultimately, the students and faculty of UP are victims of the failure of the Philippine education system. With a system obsessed with producing globally competent professionals without sufficient support, university faculty make ends meet with limited resources and time while students bear the brunt of heavy workloads just to meet such expectations. Instead of revitalizing the psyche of students and faculty, the ‘break’ further breaks it down to nothing.

Hence, proper student and faculty representation in UP administration is of utmost importance in order to voice concerns regarding the education system implemented in the institution. To elicit change and realize an actual ‘academic break,’ proactive measures are necessary to ensure the sanity and mental health of students and faculty. Hopefully, in the future, students and faculty will genuinely enjoy a well-deserved break and not a break spent on doing academic deliverables and praying Hail Marys for the upcoming hell month.