The Commission on Higher Education-Cordillera is hopeful that all higher education institutions in the region would resume face-to-face classes by April.
CHED-Cordillera Director Demetrio Anduyan, Jr. reported 21 HEIs with 15,986 students and 997 fa-culty members have opened for in-person classes.
“We have just released some of the approved institutions because our goal until April is that all of our schools would open for face-to-face classes,” Anduyan said.
He said some of the HEIs have opened at 50 percent capacity while others opened in full capacity.
“In Benguet and Baguio, because our situation is volatile, we could be level 1 now then level 2 the next time, so we are not yet in full capacity,” he said.
Anduyan said some institutions in other provinces such as in Abra have opened at 100 percent capacity. These schools provided large classrooms that could accommodate students in full capacity and still observe social distancing.
The Apayao State College, where Anduyan is currently the officer-in-charge, is implementing a 50 percent capacity on a scheduled basis.
CHED allows an institution to decide whether to open for in-person classes especially if these are located in areas under alert level 1.
He said prior to opening for face-to-face classes, the institutions must undergo a self-assessment checklist provided by CHED. Once they have complied with the assessment, it will be evaluated and approved by the agency.
Last year, CHED approved the opening of limited face-to-face classes only for medical-related courses and those with laboratory subjects.
The schools are expected to perform continuous strict compliance with the guidelines as indicated on the CHED-DOH Joint Memorandum Circular 1-2021 to ensure the safety of the returning students in this pandemic. – Ofelia C. Empian
April 26, 2024
