By Ma. Josebelle S. Bagulaya
FOR THE FIRST time, Silliman University (SU) posted lower than the national passing rate in the November 2012 Civil Engineering Licensure Examination with only 12 out of 30 making the cut.
The 40% passing rate is slightly lower than the national passing rate of 41.41% or 2,380 out of 5,747 examinees. All three “repeaters” from the university failed to make the cut.
College of Engineering and Design (CED) Dean Tessie Cabije expressed disappointment on the low passing rate this year.
“I’m sad with the result. I’m sad because of our low rating. I think this is the lowest [passing rate] we had, so I’m very sad,” Cabije said.
In the previous board exams, she said, SU had always been above the national passing rate. Last year SU got a 47.62% passing rate, higher than the national passing rate of 34.28%.
Cabije, who described the decline as “a wake-up call,” said that the department will make changes in the pre-board preparations to solve the low performance rating. Last year, they did not supervise the review sessions but only gave tips on “how to behave during examination”.
“We anticipate that we can have a higher rating next school year, so we will coach them a lot,” Cabije said. “[We will] give them extra review or review them ahead.”
Cabije added that she will call a meeting with the department of Civil Engineering (CE) to evaluate the performance of the faculty and students to solve the low passing rate.
“We have to review the process and the grading system. [Find out] what are missing and [identify] what are the particular areas we are weak [at],” she said. “We also have to render extra mile for our students in order to have a higher passing rate.”
SU trailed behind Negros Oriental State University (NORSU) which posted an 88% passing mark this year. “Naguol jud ko kaayo (I felt disappointed),” said Cabije reacting on the latter’s high passing rate. NORSU ranked fourth in this year’s board exam.
