Unless other people or groups have a “better” suggestion, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairman Popoy De Vera appealed to the public, especially to those who are against the implementation of limited face-to-face classes in select courses, not to “overreact.”
In a Facebook comment posted Sept. 1, De Vera explained further the decision of CHED to push for the resumption of limited face-to-face classes particularly in higher education institutions (HEIs) that offer medicine and allied health courses.
“It is not obligatory,” De Vera said. “If students and parents don’t want to go to F2F classes they can’t be required,” he added.
When the government directed the closure of schools in 2020 due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, CHED asked HEIs to implement Flexible Learning to ensure that education will continue for college students.
The implementation of Flexible Learning was adopted in Academic Year (AY) 2020-2021. However, CHED recognized that there are certain courses where hands-on experience is very crucial for students.
Thus, in July 2020, De Vera asked the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to allow the conduct of limited face-to-face classes in select courses. Last December, the President finally approved the partial resumption of in-person classes.
Since January 2021, the CHED has already authorized limited face-to-face classes in medicine and allied health sciences in 118 HEIs nationwide.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2021/08/27/ched-118-universities-colleges-approved-to-hold-limited-face-to-face-classes/
De Vera explained that face-to-face classes are “limited to subjects that require hands-on exercises.” Under Flexible Learning, other lessons or subjects can be done virtually. “There is already flexible learning syllabus and curriculum that will be used as a guide,” he added.
Additionally, De Vera stressed that the HEIs that are allowed to do face-to-face classes have been “rigidly inspected” by CHED, the Department of Health (DOH), local IATF and local government units (LGUs) for compliance with the 24-page Joint CHED-DOH guidelines.
“You can read the 24 page guidelines and comment if you still feel it does not protect the health of students,” he said.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2021/02/12/ched-doh-issue-guidelines-for-limited-face-to-face-classes-at-the-tertiary-level/
De Vera furthered that the development of these guidelines and approval by the President took “half a year” or from July 2020 to January 2021.
He explained that these guidelines were “done by health experts” and passed through both the IATF Technical Working Group (TWG) and the National IATF. “You can check the credentials of these experts if you do not believe they have not done enough,” De Vera said.
Since January this year, De Vera noted that of the 118 schools that have been authorized to do face-to-face classes, “the infection rate is very very low (.3% for students (out of more than 10,000) and 1.4% for faculty members).”
He stressed that of those that contracted COVID-19, “all were asymptomatic” and there were “no deaths.”
During a Laging Handa briefing early this week, De Vera warned that not allowing students to attend face-to-face classes could be “dangerous” especially for courses where graduates will “deal with human lives.”
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2021/08/31/not-allowing-students-to-attend-face-to-face-classes-could-be-dangerous-says-ched/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=not-allowing-students-to-attend-face-to-face-classes-could-be-dangerous-says-ched
Given this, De Vera noted that limited face-to-face classes should be allowed “so our students can get the needed skills, graduate, take the licensure tests, and practice their profession.”
He also added that “unless someone has a better way to do things,” CHED - under his leadership - “would continue with this policy.”
De Vera said that CHED will not wait until COVID will finally be controlled because it might be too late then. “Huwag na po yung maghintay tayo hanggang mawala ang COVID dahil pag ginawa natin yan tulad ng sinasabi ng iba last year, 1 taon na po ang nasayang (Let's not wait until COVID disappears because if we do that as others say last year, one year was already wasted),” he added.