THE Commission on Higher Education (CHED) declared yesterday that more higher education institutions (HEIs) are expected to resume face-to-face classes next school year.
“Ang maraming eskwelahan na mag-face-to-face ay next school year, yun ang kanilang desisyon base sa consultation sa mga faculty at estudyante nila (Many of the schools will resume face-to-face classes next year, that’s their decision based on the consultation with their faculty and their students),” CHED Chairman Prospero De Vera III said in a Laging Handa briefing.
Currently, De Vera said that only 313 HEIs have started offering face-to-face classes at the tertiary level.
“Makikita natin na unti-unting dadami yan at talagang magiging mas marami pagbukas ng first semester ng School Year 2022-2023 (We will see that it will gradually increase and there will definitely be more when the first semester of the School Year 2022-2023 opens),” he added.
In areas under Alert Level 1, De Vera said that 100 percent classroom capacity has been allowed.
Allowing 100 percent classroom capacity, he explained, will encourage more HEIs to resume in-person classes because it will help them to manage their facilities and schedule their classes better.
“Ang benefit kapag 100 percent na ay hindi mo na masyado pino-problema kung ilang ang iyong pababalikin na pwedeng mag-face-to-face classes (The benefit is that when it’s 100 percent, they don’t have to worry too much about how many students will be allowed to return to attend face-to-face classes),” De Vera said.
Unlike in Alert Level 3, for instance, HEIs were only allowed 30 percent capacity. De Vera said that it was a challenge for universities and colleges to make adjustments when it comes to the class schedule of their students.
“Ngayon mas madali na i-arrange or ayusin ang mga klase (Now it’s easier to arrange or organize classes),” De Vera said.
He explained that some HEIs were able to modify their class schedules and allowed their students to attend face-to-face classes in batches.
In some universities, only 50 percent of the students were allowed to attend face-to-face classes in a week while the rest of the students will attend online classes. The same setup will be implemented in the following week for the remaining batch of students.
“Mas kaya nilang i-manage yung facility kapag wala nang restriction sa capacity (They will be able to manage the facility better when there is no more capacity restriction),” De Vera said.
