Universities, colleges, and education institutions offering higher education in the country are now ready for the implementation of in-person classes for the upcoming academic year, said Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairperson Prospero De Vera III.

“Handang handa na . Tandaan natin na nagsimula nang mag face-to-face ang mga schools starting last year pa dahil pinayagan natin mag face-to-face ang medical and allied sciences noong January 2021 at pinayagan natin lahat ng pamantasan noong November of last year (The universities and colleges are ready. Let us remember that schools started face-to-face classes starting last year because we allowed medical and allied sciences to conduct face-to-face classes in January 2021. We then allowed all universities to conduct in-person classes in November of last year),” said De Vera in a “Laging Handa” public briefing on Tuesday, Aug. 2.

De Vera disclosed that most of the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) will begin their classes for academic year (AY) 2022-2023 in August 2022.

To further support his statement on the readiness of HEIs for in-person classes, De Vera noted that many universities and colleges in the Philippines have already conducted in-person graduation and sports activities. This, according to De Vera, may mean that they are now ready for face-to-face classes as well.

“Halos lahat . Ang hindi lang magf-face-to-face ay yung mga eskwelahan na talagang nagdi-distance learning na even before Covid-19 (Almost everyone will conduct face-to-face. The only ones who won’t do face-to-face are the schools that actually do distance learning even before Covid-19),” he furthered.

De Vera, on July 13, said that CHED will not issue a “blanket policy” for face-to-face classes, leaving the decision to colleges and universities to decide on their respective return to in-person classes. This, according to De Vera, is because unlike in basic education, programs in HEIs are “conducted differently,” making it difficult to command them as one.