CE Studes to Take Exam on May

{posted in: Ariel's Site}


Civil engineering studes want to retake exam in May

A group of civil engineering students who boycotted the retake of licensure examinations last Saturday said they would rather take the entire test scheduled on May.

Neil Erich Galicia of Civil Engineering Against Retake Students Union (CE-Agression) told ABS-CBN’s morning show “Umagang Kay Ganda” Monday that they would stand pat on their position that the November 27 board exams were clean.

“We’ve already promised that we will push this fight to the limit. At the end of the day all of the examinees, those who retook the exam and those who boycotted it, are all victims,” Galicia said.

He said they would rather wait for May to take the entire CE licensure exams.

“Kung mag-eexam ulit ung mga nag boycott mas gusto namin ulitin lahat sa May 2008 kaysa pumayag kami sa PRC (Professional Regulatory Commission) ng mag retake kami na di kami binibigyan ng magandang dahilan (If those who boycotted will be retaking the exam, we would rather retake the entire exams on May 2008 than retake with the PRC not giving us a clear explanation),” Galicia said.

The PRC ordered the retake of the two CE subjects-- Hydraulics and Geotechnical Engineering and Structural Engineering and Construction –during the November 2007 licensure test after discovering two examinees in Cagayan de Oro were caught cheating using their cellular phones.

Galicia noted that there is no need for them to get a temporary restraining order before the Court of Appeals, which already turned down their petition. “Di na kailangang mag-TRO, nagkaroon na ng retake eh (There’s no need for a TRO; there has already been a retake),” Galicia said.

Galicia also belied the claim of Labor Secretary Arturo Brion that there was a thorough probe into the case by the PRC.

“They conducted a thorough investigation after they already nullified the results. They went to Cagayan de Oro, to Cebu but they did not find any evidence that there was a leakage,” he said.

In a separate interview, Brion said the PRC decided to schedule the retake of the two subjects to preserve the integrity of the licensure exams. He also noted that the PRC is now determining who were involved in the test leakage and is looking for ways to prevent similar incidents in the future.

On Saturday, the PRC said it conducted a successful retake of the civil engineering board examinations amid reports of boycott by the examinees.

PRC head Leonor Rosero said a total of 3,261 examinees took the retests, with only about 1,515 who opted not to retake the examinations.

Rosero said the retake pushed through as scheduled in testing centers in Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Legaspi and Tacloban.

The PRC ordered the retake of the two subjects in November 2007 despite opposition, saying that the unusually high grades of the examinees were allegedly statistically improbable.