Discrimination or School Standards?
One reader of this blog sent me an e-mail regarding the incident that had happened to her daughter last October 10, 2007 after applying for an entrance examination for nursing. He asked me if it is ok to have his e-mail posted on this blog to get the insights of his fellow readers. This one caught my attention and took sometime to ponder whether if it is fitting enough to publish.
After a few deliberation and talks to my wife and friends, I have decided to make this e-mail available to public. I agree that there are certain requirements needed for a specific course to produce quality professionals, but on this matter isn’t it just right to an individual to be accepted in the course if the only issue that was being raised is WEIGHT?
Read the e-mail below.
Oct.10,2007 my 16 year old daughter went to San Juan de Dios Hospital to take the entrance exam for nursing. As part of the process, she was interviewed by somebody who was obviously in charge of processing the student applicants. She was told outright that she could not be accepted because she is overweight and that if she really wanted to study there she could go back January 2008 if she can lose weight. Imagine the trauma of my daughter. She was quiet on the way home. The tears just kept falling.
San Juan de Dios Hospital is supposedly run by nuns. Just because my daughter is overweight, she can not be a good nurse? We have always been taught as catholics, that we were made in the image and likeness of God. Is she not a daughter of God because she’s overweight? Isn’t this discrimination? In the country where she was born? The thrust of the government is education for each and every Filipino…what has my daughter done to deserve this kind of treatment. And she is not even overly fat since she is 5 feet 2 inches tall at 160 lbs. Can you imagine if she’s more than 200 lbs.
I already sent a letter to CHED and they referred me to their legal department. To date, no action has been taken. I’m still waiting. I am not telling you this because I want my daughter to take up nursing at the San Juan de Dios Hospital. I don’t want her to study there anymore. I do not want her near people who do not know how to treat people like human beings. I just want to warn other parents who are considering San Juan de Dios Hospital as a school that can mold their children with the right values. I don’t want other children to experience the trauma that my daughter went through because she is overweight. – Kit
As of this time, no actions has been taken yet by CHED nor hear the side of San Juan de Dios Hospital. I hope the school and CHED will clarify the said issue for the benefit of those parents (like me) who wants their children to have a bright future through education.
about 4 years ago
omg.. how disappointing.. hope this issue be clarified soon.. not a good image for a catholic oriented school.. i am completely dismayed..
about 4 years ago
This is really sad..
about 4 years ago
It is certainly odd that weight should be used as a criterion for determining who’s fit to enter a nursing school. I would have understood weight as being a criterion for screening applicants for flight attendants, but certainly not for nursing. And I don’t think that San Juan de Dios would have specified in a document that they’re only accepting students in their nursing school who have their accepted BMI or weight range.
Was she able to inform the dean of the college about it? Or was the college dean the one responsible for such discrimination?
about 4 years ago
@Prudence
I believe Kit, informed the college dean about what happened but I don’t think the results favored his way. He already sent an e-mail to CHED, hopefully in the next few days we will have some updates.
@Dex
True Dex, my wife who also took nursing last time and she said that weight shouldn’t be a factor at all.
@Percybhem
Me too graduated from a catholic school, I hope those people behind the school would clarify the issue the soonest possible time. I feel the same way.
about 4 years ago
it may even be a blessing in disguise. there are BETTER nursing schools than san juan de dios na mukhang public hospital sa dumi’t baho. manila doctors, st. paul, ust, dela salle, and up manila to name a few. you just might end up thanking that oaf for nudging you in the right direction.
about 4 years ago
Marami nang naging issues about sa mga nuns. Tulad ko, kasalukuyan po akong nagaaral sa Catholic school (4th year Nursing student po ako), and marami na rin akong nalaman na may dark side talaga ang ilan sa mga nuns.
Like sa school namin, kahit 4th year ka na ay pwede ka pa rin matanggal. Ngayon kung sakaling matanggal eh anung eskwelahan ang tatanggap pa sayo ngayong 4th year ka na?
Take note: Only irregular students lang ang pwedeng matanggal. Pero kapag regular student ka, aba, hindi ka pwedeng matanggal.
Aminado ako na isa ako sa mga irregular students kasi transferee ako, so 2nd year ako ng tumungtong ako sa school na yon. (nakick out ako sa previous).
Kasalanan ba namin kung sila mismo ang tumatanggap ng mga transferees?
Last year, ay dumulog mismo sa CHED ang mga parents ng mga natanggal na students dahil magfofourth year na eh tinanggal pa.
On the other side, meron din namang Catholic school ang tumanggap sa mga natanggal kong classmates dati, and that Catholic is against sa ginawa ng school namin (which I mentioned na Catholic School din) at sinabi nila na VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS daw ang ginawa ng school namin.
Naalala ko one time, pumasok ako ng school namin wearing my white uniform na panduty, nakalugay buhok ko at hindi ko pa natatali. Bigla akong tinawag ng dean namin (na nun) at pinagalitan ako dahil hindi daw ako nakapony tail. Habang pinapagalitan niya ako at ay nabibingi ako kasi ang haba haba ng sinabi niya, at galit na galit siyang sinesermonan ako. Ngayun lang ako nakakakita ng madreng matinding magalit. Tingin ko tuloy sa kanya ay nagiging demonyo (sorry for the term) habang ako’y sinesermonan.
Napahaba yata comment ko dito. Title pa lang kasi e nakarelate na ako. Haha!!
Cheers,
Ada
about 3 years ago
oh my! i just read that email THAT WAS HORRIBLE! Iam a Nursing Graduate, and I studied at SAN JUAN DE DIOS from first yr up to second yr first sem, on my batch my of us was not accepted for the second sem because we did not meet the grade cota, but for some reason, I my self was one of them and I was complaning because I know many of us doesn’t deserve to be “out” what happened was, npag initan ung section nmin, and many of us were 77 and below and konti lng natira, it waS SO UNFAIR kx ung iba na “hindi nila tinanggal was caught CHEATING BY A CLINICAL INSTRUCTOR AND YET NO SUNCTION HAD BEEN DONE.” We all Believe there PALAKASAN SYSTEM and DAPAT ME BACKER KA S LOOB. we were really upset and frustrated at that time. anyweiz, that was before I am just grateful that the School/University that I graduated from was fair enough, we really learn a lot. From that email, i was so shock that someone from the Admin said that to a kid, that was really traumatic, of course that kid will be depressed! the one who intervied her should say sorry to her, WALA XANG KARAPATAN pra SABIHIN un, if he/she wanted to say that, he/she should have said that in a subtle way, in a nice way so that the young lady will not felt insulted. the admin of SJDF should do something about that.
about 3 years ago
..bakit san juan de dios lang ba ang may ganyang criterion on entrance and retention policies? obviuously KIRA masakit poa rin sayo ang pagkatanggal mo. well that’s life. masakit talaga ang matanggal lalo na at maliit ang tingin mo sa san juan de dios, masakit sa ego yun.
Di mabaho ospital ng san juan de dios. baka manila doctors hospital napasukan mo na sobrang dumi.!di ako taga-san juan de dios but my sister studuied and i know how well she was educated. i believe tghey have the best nursing curriculum!
aja!
about 3 years ago
I tried to read the email (as well as the comments) with unbiased eyes, but some things just didn’t sit well with me. The first thing I noted was the fuss on the weight. A lot of people may not understand what is the big thing with weight. But the truth is, we are future health care professionals (and yes, I am a Nursing student at San Juan de Dios Educational Foundation, Inc.). We are supposed to promote health and well-being to our clients. And the first requisite is that we should be models to our clients, so that they may not only visualize what is ideal for them, but they may further be convinced of the pressing need to maintain health. And may I also remind you that every school has its own standards.
There’s also the imago dei and discrimination complaint in the email. I am fairly sure that the in-charge of processing the applications told the daughter in a nice way about her being overweight. Where is discrimination in stating that fact? It’s not like the in-charge said that she was obese, and will never be accepted in SJDEFI. Everybody who applies for the school is reminded to watch his/her weight. Heck, I even have classmates who still get the reminders all the time. Let’s face it, in an institution like San Juan de Dios, ‘overweight’ is nothing but a clinical word. It does not mean that people here think less of the overweight or the obese. We are not so barbaric or narrow-minded to think like that.
Then there’s also the GRADE QUOTA. Every school has that. It just so happened that our school places great emphasis on the need to maintain acceptable grades. There’s nothing wrong with that. And if I may say so, it’s the students’ responsibility to study and work hard to get high grades. GRading in San Juan de Dios is actually an objective process. The only thing left to the teacher’s discretion is the attitude. If the student studies well enough and gets high grades in all examinations, then there’d be virtually no way for that student to fail.
about 2 years ago
@Luli
To tell you frankly luli.. being overweight was never a standard when it comes to being a role model to your clients… come to think of it even if you’re going to check the top hospitals in the states never you will find a single hospital that doesnt have an obese(sorry for the term) nurse or employee… so having this fact… if in any case that the school itself has it’s own standards about the weight thing then they will include it in the terms and conditions of the screening don’t you get it? there’s no use of being a savior of your stinking school coz I know a LOT of people who doesn’t know how to deal with their own values because of the things they learned and molded their being in that school… proven and tested
-spongklong
about 2 years ago
Hi, I am really upset about this. My Mom and I were talking about college cause I’m already a senior high. Mom wanted me to be a nurse (even i hate it!) and she told me that I should take an exam in San Juan De dios college.:(
about 2 years ago
This is TRUE. Naexperience ko rin to, such HARSHNESS/DISCRIMINATION! It was traumatic for me.
I was an incoming freshman college student for school year 2004 when my mom and I decided to take the entrace exams for SAN JAUN DE DIOS(wtf!) which is just a few blocks away from home, it was the most accesible and for the thought that it was one of the PREMIERE Nursing Schools in the Philippines. UNLUCKILY, I was NOT ACCEPTED because I was OVERWEIGHT(wtf was that all about?!). I did an outstanding job in highschool and my credntials were good as well and for such f*cking reason they won’t accept me because I’m overweight. I was really disappointed and until now I still HATE that school, that SAN JUAN DE DIOS!
I am now a Registered Nurse and a graduate of FEU(which is way way better that san juan hahahaha)
SJDDEF SUCKS FOR LIFE!!!
about 2 years ago
guys try to view this website http://www.rollyscomputerworld.com yung shoutout section ni sir.kayung mga taga SJDEFI college or san juan de dios college dapat mag post kayu go na!!!
about 1 year ago
“there are BETTER nursing schools than san juan de dios na mukhang public hospital sa dumi’t baho.” “there’s no use of being a savior of your stinking school” – arpeelazaro
“I was really disappointed and until now I still HATE that school, that SAN JUAN DE DIOS! I am now a Registered Nurse and a graduate of FEU(which is way way better that san juan hahahaha) SJDDEF SUCKS FOR LIFE!!!” – gp
Guys where’s your manners? even though San Juan de Dios violated some laws, we dont have the right to condemn the whole institution. first the school have different administrators from the hospital. next sa loob ng school may ibat ibang department. i think the one we need to address our concern ay sa admission department because they’re the one who’s responsible for incoming students. dont be harsh watch your words. Im a BSN graduate of San Juan de Dios and i finished my masters degree sa FEU.
@gp
I am reminding you that you are speaking for your self and not on behalf of FEU. Be responsible hindi yan ang turo sa atin.
@All
may legal process yan good luck to all. my alma matter is not perfect but who are??? come to think of it.