The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is carefully considering if it will recommend to the President to allow more students at the tertiary level to attend limited face-to-face classes for courses other than medicine and allied health sciences.
“The best argument that we will have is the compliance of those that were already allowed to hold limited face-to-face classes,” CHED Chairman J. Prospero De Vera III during a virtual press conference on Friday, March 12.
De Vera said that CHED is eyeing to recommend to the President to allow conduct of limited face-to-face classes for programs such as Engineering, Information Technology (IT), other Industrial Technology courses and Maritime - among others.
“But it has to be data-driven, so we are constantly monitoring the compliance of those that were already allowed to hold limited face-to-face classes at this time,” De Vera explained in a mix of English and Filipino.
In January, CHED was able to get the approval of President Duterte to allow select higher education institutions (HEIs) that offer medical programs to hold limited in-person classes for their students in subjects were face-to-face interaction is needed.
Currently, six HEIs already got the nod from CHED to conduct limited face-to-face classes.
For other courses, De Vera said that Deans and other concerned officials at the higher education level should start meeting and prepare for possible resumption of physical classes for other degree programs.
“The Deans of Engineering courses, for example, can hold meetings to craft specific details of the guidelines,” De Vera said, adding that they are in the best position to know what needs to done.
De Vera cited associations of medical schools, for instance, met early on and crafted the guidelines for the resumption of limited face-to-face classes for medical students and those taking up allied heath sciences.
“We are asking Engineering, IT to do the same now,” De Vera said. “They do not have to wait for the guidelines, they can start crafting the details now,” he added.
Once allowed by the government, he noted that it will be easier for the HEIs to get approval to resume the conduct of limited face-to-face classes after they have consulted with their respective local government unit (LGUs).