By Alec Go
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on Monday (Oct. 11) said it is studying the possible conduct of limited face-to-face classes in all degrees in areas with low COVID-19 prevalence and high vaccination rates.
CHED Chairperson J. Prospero E. De Vera III said in the Oct. 11 Palace briefing that the conduct of limited in-person classes is being eyed “possibly by geographic area” aside from the current by degree program setup.
“Kung papayag ang local government, kung mataas na ang vaccination rate doon sa area, mababa naman ang classification nila as far as COVID is concerned, baka papayagan na natin pagdating sa mga susunod na buwan… as long as they abide by the guidelines and they are inspected,” he said.
The higher education official said 301 programs have been approved in 181 schools since the government allowed classes for medicine and health allied courses.
Around 21,000 students and more than 1,000 faculty members have already been participating in physical classes. From this number, the COVID-19 infection rate for students is less than 1% and 1.41% among personnel.
“Lahat sila ay asymptomatic, walang namatay, walang na-ospital sa kanila. So, ang ibig sabihin, iyong guidelines na inisyu ng CHED at DOH [Department of Health] ay mahigpit,” he said.
He said 30 degree programs have been allowed nationwide following the government’s recent move to expand the list of programs to include courses in engineering, tourism, and marine transportation.
“Titingnan natin doon sa next batch na mga degree programs kung ligtas pa rin ang mga estudyante at mga guro at baka papayagan din sila kahit na medyo restricted area pa ‘yung kanilang mga lugar,” he said.
Vax drive
De Vera said they will be focusing on vaccinating participants and personnel of in-person classes, noting that several areas far from NCR have slightly low vaccination rates.
“Dahil alam na natin kung ano ang vaccination rate nila at inutusan natin ang mga pamantasan na makipag-ugnayan sa kanilang mga local governments… Per school ang pagtutok natin ngayon sa mga higher education institutions,” he said.
As of Oct. 6, 73% of higher education personnel of 1,488 universities and colleges have already received their COVID-19 vaccines.
The CHED is set to conduct vaccination caravans in higher educational institutions nationwide “to highlight the urgency of vaccination” in line with the general population vaccination’s start on Oct. 15. -_# bny
