A school in Zamboanga City has earned praises from Commission on Higher Education (CHED) after its retrofitted facilities passed the standards set by the government when it comes to the conduct of limited face-to-face or laboratory classes.

CHED Chairperson Popoy De Vera commended the Universidad de Zamboanga (UZ) - College of Dentistry at UZ Laboratories Building, Tetuan, Zamboanga City in a statement issued Thursday, Aug. 12.

“The process for pushing for the gradual reopening of colleges and universities has been challenging,” he said. De Vera visited UZ where he made his observations following his ocular inspections of the different laboratory rooms covering five floors of laboratories and those for the School of Dentistry.

De Vera considered his visit to UZ as one of the highlights of his trip in the city. “I think I have found the new benchmark that can be used by all Higher Education Institutions on how they can safely reopen,” he said. “I am very impressed with what they’ve done,” he added.

In particular, De Vera commended the “large, easy to understand and numerous signages that are conspicuously and strategically” placed all over the campus.

“There was an abundance of these signages which reminds students to follow health protocols,” CHED said. “Automated alcohol dispensers were carefully positioned outside every room to train students to frequently disinfect and Foot Traffic markers are visible with the perfect size,” the commission added.

CHED also cited other notable practices that can serve as the “new benchmark in the new normal of teaching-learning” such as the use of right sized High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters in enclosed spaces for proper air circulation, glass barrier shields installed on shared workstations to help minimize the spread of transmissible body fluids and a fully-mechanized medically equipped quarantine/isolation area for suspected patients while awaiting transport to a health facility.

De Vera said that UZ also maximized the “use of technology in teaching by utilizing simulators complete with an intraoral camera to aid students in keeping with teacher’s instructions.” All these efforts, De Vera said, “surpassed the minimum requirements on health protocols” set by the IATF, CHED and other government line agencies.

De Vera noted that UZ has “taken the lead” among institutions in Region-IX in retrofitting its facilities beyond the minimum requirements thereby lending itself as epitome for compliance to CHED-DOH Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2021-01 prescribing for the Gradual Reopening Campus of Higher Education Institutions for Limited Face-to-Face classes during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The UZ was was also conferred with the Safety Seal Certification by Zamboanga City Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar under the the DOLE, DTI, DILG/PNP, and LGU Guidelines.

CHED said that this is a “voluntary certification program which can serve as a constant reminder for everyone to adhere to public health standards” set by the Issuing Authorities.

UZ is a private non-sectarian University established in October 1948. It is Western Mindanao’s largest private educational institution and operates seven campuses which include two off-site branches located in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay Province, and Pagadian in Brgy. Tiguma, Pagadian City.

For Executive Vice President Abram Eustaquio, the UZ faced an “immense challenge to overcome this pandemic with the volatile resurgence of cases and evolving variants” which are coupled with impositions of quarantine restrictions.

“Navigating our way through these uncertainties, the survival of any organization now depends on how well we adapt to technology, how effectively we can shift our paradigm, and how innovative we are in pursuing new ideas,” Eustaquio added.