Cyberpunk 2020: Robots proxy for graduates in this Taguig grad ceremony

Dear 2020 graduates, it seems like not all hope is lost for a commencement ceremony in a socially distanced world.

Today, Sen. Renato “Compañero” Cayetano Memorial Science and Technology High School in Taguig City held their pilot graduation ceremony with robots. Think Sheldon Cooper in “Big Bang Theory.”

The robots were student-made. They are wheeled devices where the graduates’ faces appear on a tablet device. They’re also dressed for the occasion, complete with a toga and graduation cap. This way, the students still get to receive their diplomas on stage and be celebrated by a (masked and distanced) audience.

A week ago in Isabela, the Cauayan East Central School also got creative with their graduation rites with a mobile graduation. A pickup truck drove around a stage—complete with banners and a school podium, no less—and traveled to each graduate’s home so they could celebrate the momentous milestone.

At the beginning of April, a Japanese graduation ceremony also went viral online for utilizing robot graduate proxies. Tokyo school Business Breakthrough University used similar robots, with the audience attending via Zoom.

Although DepEd has been pushing back regular graduation rites in the interest of keeping COVID-19 at bay, schools are coming up with creative solutions to push through with the event safely. The show must go on, amirite?

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