The Student Council Alliance of the Philippines (SCAP) and Akbayan Youth vehemently condemn the recent call by Senator Bato Dela Rosa to profile students “prone to NPA recruitment” through guidance counselors of schools, a statement made during the recent session of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs.
Schools should be safe communities for students, teachers, staff, and the administration. Profiling students will lead only to red-tagging and discrimination, endangering the students’ lives. It’s a burden that should never be borne by guidance counselors, teachers, parents, and especially the students whose education will be affected.
We do not want the National People’s Army (NPA) and other armed groups to recruit in our schools. And what would effectively stop the recruitment? If only senators like Bato Dela Rosa focus on solving the education crisis, upholding students’ rights and academic freedom, and ensuring that students get to finish their education and contribute to the community.
We disagree with forcing guidance counselors to turn against the students. Will profiling students increase our literacy rate? Will it help ease the workload of our teachers and admin? Will making guidance counselors suspicious of students make schools safer? The decades-long still ongoing crisis in education requires a serious response to ensure that all students receive a quality education and have a chance for a better future.
In our collective struggle and resistance against the education crisis, we call on the Filipino youth and students, together with the teachers, school administrators, and organizations to join in defending students’ rights, upholding academic freedom, and combatting student profiling which only leads to red-tagging and discrimination, endangering students’ lives and school communities.
