07/04/2021
In a statement posted yesterday, the Supreme Student Council (SSC) of City of Malabon University (CMU) condemned its administration’s move to usurp the aforementioned body by establishing the “Diplomat Society,” a new student organization. The Union echoes the call of the SSC and calls on the CMU administration to cease any and all attempts to replace the democratically elected student representation in the university.
It must be noted that the incumbent SSC president also acts as the Student Regent (SR) in the university’s highest policy-making body, the Board of Regents (BOR). The CMU administration reportedly instructed class presidents to vote for the next SR without consulting the studentry. This transgression is the very reason why student governments must remain independent of any other offices: despite being a stakeholder in schools, students are often excluded from decision-making, effectively ruling out the creation of pro-student policies.
The Union stresses that when students are excluded in policy-making, students are left behind.
It is only right that the students, by nature of their position in the university, have a say in matters that primarily concern them. What use is a school system, after all, that does not allow its students to learn and flourish by way of self-governance?
We must be steadfast and fight against the shrinking of our democratic spaces--further encroached upon by state-sanctioned attempts that endanger students’ rights such as the Terror Law and the abrogration of the UP-DND accord. The Union reiterates one of its demands in education during the pandemic: that genuine representation of all stakeholders must be ensured in planning proper, moving forward.
We stand with the students of CMU and their demand for genuine student representation and student independence!
Defend the CMU SSC! Uphold genuine student representation! No student left behind!