The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on Friday, Aug. 27, announced that over a hundred higher education institutions (HEIs) nationwide have been allowed to hold limited face-to-face classes.
CHED Chairman Prospero De Vera III, in a virtual press conference during the awarding of Certificate of Authority to reopen limited face-to-face classes in Mindoro Occidental, said there are “118 HEIs that have been allowed to hold limited face-to-face in medical and allied health sciences.”
De Vera said that in July 2020, he discussed with the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) the need to allow HEIs that offer medicine and allied health science to hold limited face-to-face classes. In January, President Duterte finally approved the proposal.
The starting points of the HEIs, De Vera said, differ. For instance, there are HEIs like the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila which started holding limited face-to-face as early as December.
The offering of limited face-to-face, De Vera said, depends on the readiness of the HEI. For example, he explained that the number of students that would be allowed to attend the limited in-person sessions would depend on the size of the room to ensure that social distancing is observed among other health protocols.
Nationwide, De Vera said that at least 13,000 students taking up select allied health-related degree programs such as Medicine, Nursing, Medical Technology/Medical Laboratory Science, Physical Therapy, Midwifery, and Public Health are allowed to attend limited face-to-face classes.
De Vera said that CHED really pushed for medicine and allied health sciences to belong to the “first batch” of students who can attend limited face-to-face classes.
He noted that there are two major reasons behind: enable students to achieve key learning outcomes on specialized laboratory courses and hospital-based clinical clerkship/internship/practicum and to provide “back-up” or additional manpower to hospitals.
Meanwhile, De Vera explained that HEIs have to apply first before they are allowed to hold face-to-face classes.
“They have to retrofit their facilities to ensure the safety of the students and faculty,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
De Vera said that there are over 400 applications received by the Commission. “There are still pending because inspection for this is very meticulous and the approval is not very easy to get,” he added.