PUP’s Apathetic Inferno

From scorching heat, poor ventilation system, broken electric fans, and lack of proper electric source, to an entire class compressed in a small classroom—how much more can PUPians endure?

Cartoon by Allaine Chesca Arcaya

Since the beginning of summer season, the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) administration has announced multiple in-person class suspensions because of heat index reaching danger level measures from 42°C to 46°C.

Many universities nationwide have been facing this recurring issue every summer season. 2023 was reported as the hottest year ever recorded. Since then, global environmental issues mainly caused by climate change have been rapidly increasing.

While many students are calling out for suspensions due to health risks brought by extreme weather conditions, several academic concerns are also being raised.

The consequent shift to online classes allows students to stay at home and align their personal activities with class schedules. It’s undeniable that online classes offer more flexibility since you can conduct personal activities besides academics by turning your camera and microphone off.

Some students also stated that the asynchronous mode of learning lessens the burden of spending fares for public transportation. With online classes, they get to rest more, and it takes less effort to prepare for each class.

However, the suspension of onsite classes disrupts scheduled class activities and is far from being a permanent nor an effective solution to avoid the summer heat. How long should we settle for these kinds of adaptive measures, when this has been a recurring issue affecting the student body in the over the years?

For some students of Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, the rising heat index pushed back schedules, forcing them to finish backlogs amid exam week—making it difficult to keep up.

The two billion-peso budget cut faced by the university is also one of the reasons why students suffer from the faulty ventilation systems all over the campus. It can be recalled that the Marcos administration cut off over 8.4 billion pesos from PUP’s proposed budget for 2025. The National Expenditure Program (NEP) submitted by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to the Congress allocated only 3.39 billion pesos for the university. Amidst the calls for budget increase, allocations for maintenance and facilities fail to satisfy the needs of the student body.

One thing is for sure: the “band-aid” solution is merely a temporary fix. It is ineffective and does not cater to the needs of the students and faculty. Moreover, it affects the university calendar with the postponement of midterm exams, quizzes, and organizational activities, and notwithstanding network and connectivity issues faced by students, since not everyone is privileged enough to have internet access and proper devices to endure consecutive hours of screen time.

The consequences of the abovementioned issues call for every college to fight for budget increase, fund allocation towards improving the ventilation systems within classrooms, provide sufficient budgets for environmental student organizations, and conduct projects within the PUP community to reduce the drastic impacts of climate change. After all, it takes a collective effort to “beat the heat” and develop academic sustainability.

This also serves as an eye-opener to students to advocate against climate change. Every individual is capable of seeking accountability from the authority. In pursuit of academic freedom, PUPians have the right to proper facilities, good ventilation systems, and university budget increase.

Consideration from the administration and student-leaders is crucial amidst the heat crisis. The university itself is experiencing a literal free trial of heat in hell. The least thing the administration can do is to step-up, propose and impose strategic measures to protect students’ welfare without compromising the education quality.  

The unwanted hell given by nature is more than enough—and leaders shouldn’t make the students’ lives the same too because of their poor decision-making.

Article: Angel Camille Dio