Following the approval for the expansion of limited face-to-face classes to other degree programs, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said that the application of higher education institutions (HEIs) at regional level is currently ongoing.
CHED Chairman Popoy De Vera, during the ceremonial vaccination of tertiary students in Quezon City on Oct. 29, said that the Commission is currently awaiting data from its regional offices as to how many HEIs have already applied for the second batch programs allowed to hold limited in-person classes and other related activities.
“When they apply, they follow the guidelines, they retrofit, they put minimum health standards, and an inspection team comes in,” De Vera said in a mix of English and Filipino.
De Vera said that limited in-person classes in the tertiary level started as early as January this year for Medicine and Allied Health Sciences which was considered as the first batch.
In September, face-to-face activities were expanded for the second batch which include Engineering and Technology programs, Hospitality/ Hotel and Restaurant Management, Tourism/ Travel Management, Marine Engineering, and Marine Transportation was approved by President Duterte and the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF).
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2021/09/28/limited-face-to-face-classes-now-expanded-to-other-degree-programs-ched-says/
De Vera said that only HEIs that apply will be allowed to reopen schools after thorough inspection from CHED and the Department of Health (DOH) in coordination with the local governments units (LGUs).
Before a school is allowed to offer limited face-to-face classes, De Vera said that they should be inspected first. “Sometimes it is joint, sometimes an individual coming from the LGU, city health office, CHED regional office and in some areas, the local IATF or regional DOH,” he explained.
In most cases, De Vera said that the inspection is done by a composite team so “so it will be faster.” He noted that sometimes, there are “scheduling issues but once resolved and passed the inspection, the CHED regional office issues the authority to reopen.”
While CHED does not have initial data yet how many schools have applied for the second batch, De Vera said that these HEIs are probably those that were already authorized to hold in-person classes in the first batch. “I think the schools that already got approval in the first batch for Medicine and Allied Health, if they have Engineering programs, it would be easier because they have retrofitted their facilities like walkways, libraries, gyms,” he said.
De Vera said that when these HEIs apply, “the only areas to be visited is only a small portion - the laboratory and they will get approval easily.”
Meanwhile, De Vera noted that offering in-person classes is not mandatory for all HEIs at this point.
“The schools are in the best position to decide that not CHED because the schools have different conditions,” he said. “What is important is you work with the schools, you guide them and they make the decisions,” he added.
Schools that are not yet ready to hold face-to-face classes will continue to use Flexible Learning which was implemented by CHED since March last year.
“When we did Flexible Learning, part of this is that at some point in time, you will have a mix of face-to-face and online and face-to-face and offline --- from the start,” De Vera said.
However, he noted that it is very important to let the schools decide what is the appropriate mix for the students or “how much of the subjects will be face-to-face, online, and offline.”
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2021/08/14/flexible-learning-is-the-future-of-ph-higher-education-ched-says/