DepEd tells students to keep graduation rites 'solemn' amid dance videos

While it recognizes the self-expression of students, the Department of Education (DepEd) said that proper decorum must be observed during formal ceremonies like graduation rites. 

According to Ian Cruz’s report in “24 Oras” on Friday, DepEd said it has yet to receive a report from its regional office regarding the videos of graduating senior high school students from a private school in Davao del Norte that made rounds online. 

The students can be seen dancing and doing actions after receiving their diplomas, which many find inappropriate for the occasion.

“They should be conducted in a solemn manner. So definitely ‘yung twerking or dancing upon the receipt of the diploma does not fall in the category of celebrating its solemnity,” said DepEd Assistant Secretary for Operations Francis Bringas. 

“In fact, kung dalawa o tatlo ang mga sumasayaw (In fact, if there are two or three students dancing), they should be more sensitive that there are more parents that would want the ceremony to remain solemn,” he added. 

The agency is still finding out if these videos were recently taken or from the past graduation ceremony of the said school. 

The DepEd official said that they recognize that private schools have internal policies on the conduct of their school activities, so the agency will defer to the investigation of the involved school in the videos. 

Further, DepEd has already advised public schools to observe solemnity in their graduation ceremonies. 

GMA Integrated News is trying to reach out to the school for comment. —Vince Ferreras/LDF, GMA Integrated News