The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on Monday assured that the safety of students will remain an utmost priority even if the conduct of limited face-to-face classes in medical and allied courses were allowed to resume.
“Babantayan natin itong mga susunod na buwan at titingnan natin kung paano ba natin masisiguro na talagang ligtas ang mga estudyante (We will monitor the developments in the coming months and we will ensure that our students will remain safe),” CHED Chairperson Dr. J. Prospero De Vera III said during the Laging Handa public briefing.
Earlier, President Duterte has green lighted the resumption of limited face-to-face classes for students under the medical and other related courses to ensure the sufficient supply of health professionals in the country.
However, De Vera clarified that the resumption of limited in-person classes will not be automatic to all schools. “They need to apply to CHED,” he explained - noting those who will be allowed to resume limited physical classes would have to undergo inspection.
“We need to know if the schools underwent retrofitting, if they coordinated with the local government units (LGUs) and if health standards are being observed in these schools,” De Vera said. “We will not approve those schools that did not consultat with their LGUs,” he added.
To ensure the safety of students, De Vera said that should there be cases of infection, the “schools will be closed by CHED until the issue has been resolved.” As early as last year, he noted that some private schools have been ready for limited face-to-face classes.
“Even before this was approved by the President, we have been continuously meeting to put the guidelines in place,” De Vera said. Some of these schools, he added, have been visited already and passed the requirements set by the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF).
For schools that have prepared early on, de Vera said that can start with the resumption of limited in-person classes this second semester. Such is the case for the Our Lady Fatima University which has retrofitted facilities since last year. “The others, they cannot start yet unless approved by CHED,” he added.
So far, De Vera said that CHED does not have the final number of schools that will be allowed to resume limited in-person classes. “The application is ongoing and we don’t know yet because they need to be inspected first,” he explained. “In the next two to three weeks, we can find out how many will be approved because we will simultaneously visit these schools,” he ended.
Meanwhile, de Vera noted that the UP College of Medicine has been approved to resume limited in-person classes beforehand since its base hospital is the Philippine General Hospital (PGH which is known to implement very strict health protocols.
“Pinayagan na mag-pilot yung mga interns ay mga ga-graduate na medical students sa UP-PGH at wala naman infection hanggang ngayon. Ibig sabihin nasusunod ang protocols na ginawa ng hospital at ng eskwelahan (The interns and graduating students in UP-PGH were allowed to pilot and there has been no reported infection until now. It means that the protocols set by the hospital and the school are being observed),” de Vera ended.