Due to the successive suspension of Saturday classes, the National Service Training Program – Civic Welfare Training Service (NSTP-CWTS), through the Arrupe Office of Social Formation (AOSF), had a full day filled with sessions to ensure that every student would be able to undergo three CHED mandated common modules which include Disaster Risk Reduction Management, National Security of the Philippines and the Substance Abuse Prevention Education (SAPE).

Make-up classes for the Basic Disaster Management Orientation were conducted at the 4th Floor Training Center of the Philippine Red Cross, while make-up classes for Basic First-Aid Training module were conducted at the Arrupe and Rodriguez Halls.

Arrupe volunteers presented the Substance Abuse Prevention Education module. Necessary information about the symptoms and harmful long-term effects of illegal drugs were tackled on and applied through interactive group activities involving discussions and role-play.

Students were reminded of their important role in helping combat illegal drugs by disseminating information onto their peers.

Melinda Prieto, a peace advocate from the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID), was the keynote speaker for the symposium on the National Security of the Philippines. She stressed the need for inter-generational dialogue and how this was part of the youth’s ‘peace homework’.

Prieto empowered the youth to help eliminate violence by local means and eliminate gender, religion, ethnic intolerance, and biases.

Jazmin Pechardo, a 2nd year Mass Communication student, shared her insights after the talk.

“I think that promoting peace and discussing Bangsamoro in the classroom setting will be useful, but not in a separate subject. Rather, make it a highlight of subjects such as Philippine History or Philcon,” she stated.

She also shared her sentiments regarding imbalance between the necessity of these talks and the amount of participation that students were truly investing.

“We do need these talks, but they also need to find a way for the students to listen,” she said.

This is just one of the many sentiments coming from students, some expressed complaints about the whole day of NSTP classes prior to the dreaded final week of examinations.

The whole day of NSTP classes concluded with a short reflection as post-discussion activity.

(Featured photo from @AdDU_ARRUPE)