photo by Ashley Loyloy
An estimated number of 8,000 students flocked to Mindanao State University (MSU) General Santos on Sunday, February 25 to take the System Admission and Scholarship Examination (SASE), the qualifying examination for MSU.
MSU General Santos Admission Director Jerry Dela Cruz said in an interview on Sunday that their office recorded at least 8,000 online applications in General Santos City alone.
According to the Admission Director, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact number of SASE takers since there are also manual applications with numbers yet to be determined after the examination.
The Admission Director also revealed that SASE initially only accepted manual applications.
However, because of the restrictions caused by the pandemic, online applications have been utilized since.
"Nag-start siya nung nag-pandemic kasi we cannot reach out to all the schools because of the travel ban. ‘Di makabyahe, ‘di makapasok sa ibang area,” he explained.
Mandated mission
Aside from MSU General Santos, there are 12 other test centers for the examination: Tupi, Koronadal, Surallah, Lake Sebu, Malapatan, Kiamba, Digos, Kidapawan, Tagum, Malita and Jose Abad Santos in Davao Occidental, and Baganga in Davao Oriental, the farthest, which Dela Cruz enumerated.
He emphasized the importance of sending out manual application forms to aid those in areas with little to no internet access.
“We wanted to serve them, wanted to reach out to them, that is why ang MSU System, SASE, meron siyang mga manual forms na pinapadala natin,” he stressed.
Furthermore, the Admission Director cited an instance from last year wherein only 13 students from Jose Abad Santos sent their applications online, however, 400 students came to take the actual exam, most of whom utilized the manual application process.
“Bakit tayo umaabot ng Davao Oriental na ang dami naman natin estudyante dito sa General Santos? That is because of our mandated mission to reach out to the tri-people and to the poor and deserving,” he explained.
Then vs now
According to Dela Cruz, aside from procuring materials needed for the exam itself, one of the most crucial preparations for SASE is the dissemination of information.
Depending on their assigned areas, SASE examination officers visit both public and private schools to inform them of the upcoming exam.
“Dati, diretso lang kami sa test center, disseminate kami sa area, then hintay nalang kami sa exam. But during sa pandemic, pag wala kaming approval sa LGU, IETF hindi kami papapasukin sa school,” he said.
Based on the interview, since they could no longer visit schools, they opted to use radio stations to disseminate news about the upcoming SASE instead.
Dela Cruz noted that a significant difference between this year’s SASE from that of the previous ones is the resumption of the usual dissemination processes after almost 3 years.
“Ngayon, nakabalik na konti, naka-disseminate na yung ating mga examiners,” he said.
Moreover, Dela Cruz also explained that unlike last year wherein protocols such as a large gap in exam schedules were implemented to avoid convergence of examinees, this year's examination schedules are back to normal, with each batch of examinees immediately following the next.
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