The University of the Philippines (UP) College of Education Student Council slammed the latest episode of VinCentiments entitled “Online Class,” showing students’ rants on the conduct of online learning in the country.
“Today, the role of teachers amidst the pandemic is undeniably challenging due to the additional effort they make in ensuring that quality education is continuously delivered despite the many limitations present in our educational system. With this, the efforts and struggles of teachers should never be undermined in any way,” it said in a Facebook post.
The short film, which lasted for almost 10 minutes, showed a student struggling to participate in an online class.
The student started to rant about different issues surrounding online class, such as high tuition fees despite online education and how learning from home is not conducive because it is an uncontrolled environment.
The film also criticized the teachers’ method of teaching online, citing teachers were not sensitive to the struggles of students. “Online class is not equals to online learning,” said the student in the film.
“While we recognize that it aims to voice out the concerns of students with regard to online classes, the latest episode of VinCentiments entitled “Online Class” is outright irresponsible, insensitive, and infuriating. The video narrows down learning into the traditional mode wherein it is only facilitated in the classroom,” UP College of Education Student Council said.
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VinCentiments online class episode
“Moreover, it fails to acknowledge that remote learning is not merely limited to conducting online classes. The video also antagonizes teachers by portraying them as harsh and ignorant to the concerns of students. This is a direct insult to educators whose efforts, for the past months, are directed towards adjusting syllabi, curricula, modules, and lesson plans in order to ensure the delivery of quality and compassionate education amidst the pandemic,” it added.
The University of the Philippines College of Education Student Council also urged the director and creators of the video to take it down as soon as possible, saying, “Our teachers do not deserve this disrespect.”
VinCentiments, meanwhile, responded to the massive criticisms they receive by standing by their “art.”
“We will not apologize for hurt that’s taken by choice. We can only explain our art to you; we cannot understand it for you. They watch us not with the intention of understanding, but with the intention of misreading the message,” they said.