CEBU City scholars from the Asian College of Technology International Educational Foundation (ACT), who wish to transfer to another school have difficulty doing so.
The school’s management continues to withhold the credentials that they need to enroll elsewhere.
This includes a copy of the scholar’s grades, together with a Transcript of Records and certificate of honorable dismissal.
Some students complained that records of their grades have been deleted from the school’s website.
“Last April, I could still see my grades from second semester, when I was second year and even when I was still in first year. All my grades were in the website. But when I checked it the other day, there’s already an error when I try to view my grades,” said Noemi Tomada, an incoming third year BS Information Technology student, said during a dialogue between the scholarship program officials and over a hundred city scholars from ACT last Thursday.
Other scholars had the same complaint.
Luckily for some, like Stanly Momo, they were able to keep manual records of their grades.
“I really kept a record even from before,” said the student, an incoming fourth year BS Hospitality Management senior.
The school won’t release the TOR of students unless the Cebu city government pays P135 million in past due tuition for the school years 2013-2014 and 2014-2015.
ACTIEF legal counsel Edison Arriola said they still have to check if the grades of the students have been deleted from the website.
Ida Yting, who heads the scholarship program, said they will seek the help of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to get a copy of the scholars’ grades.
“Colleges and universities submit the grades of students to CHED. So maybe we can ask from CHED. I already knew it was coming (that the grades will be erased). It’s like ACT is choking the students and the scholarship committee,” Yting said.
The scholarship office already has an agreement with other accredited schools to enroll ACT scholars even if they lack documents. The scholars will be considered “temporarily enrolled.”
Classes start a week from now on June 1.
Some scholars, however, have not yet decided whether to transfer to another school or stay in ACT because of the uncertainty of either option.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has encouraged scholars to transfer to other schools.
Incoming first-year students who choose to stay in ACT will no longer enjoy the P10,000 stipend from the city as scholars, he said.
The Cebu city government did not renew its memorandum of agreement with the school after the Ombudsman issued a decision stating that ACT’s founding president Cebu City Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa was guilty of conflict of interest.
The school announced the other day that it has filed a complaint with the Visayas Ombudsman against Mayor Rama and other officials, and asked for their preventive suspension.
The school said the graft case should not affect the city’s payment of its outstanding dues since the contract with the city signed in 2011 was valid.