Sleepy student barred from taking final exams

MANILA, Philippines - A second-year college student in Manila was barred from taking the final examinations by her professor after she was caught sleeping during a lecture, a television report said Thursday. In his report on GMA News’ “24 Oras," JP Soriano said Elizabeth Balitaan, a student of La Consolacion College, has admitted falling asleep while her Finance professor Ronald Pastrana was lecturing, but said it was due to a headache. Balitaan said she tried talking to Pastrana but he refused to listen to her. "Kinausap ko na po siya. Sinundan ko siya sa Dean's Office tapos hindi niya ako pinansin. Tapos failed na daw po ako [kasi] parang nakakabastos daw ang ginawa ko," Balitaan said. [I tried talking to him but he won’t listen to me. He told me to consider myself failed for sleeping in the class.] Balitaan was later allowed to take the exam by the school administration, the report said. The incident however upset Balitaan’s mother, who went to see Pastrana to discuss the problem. Pastrana, for his part, said he did not allow Balitaan to take the examination because she missed a lot in the lecture. Although La Consolation College said it usually allows its professors to impose their own rules inside their classes, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said sleeping inside a class was not an outright offense and described the punishment imposed by Pastrana as “too harsh." "The professor should have asked the student to explain what happened. And to deprive the student to take the final exam, I think that's too harsh. Also the penalty, I don't think it's an outright offense yung biglang nakatulog sa kase [to suddenly fall asleep during class], said CHED lawyer Julito Vitriolo. - GMANews.TV