MANILA – Four Western Visayas-based colleges and universities were given the green light by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to hold limited face-to-face classes in the second semester of academic year 2020-2021.
These were the West Visayas State University in La Paz district; Central Philippine University in Jaro district; Iloilo Doctors’ College in Molo district; and Phinma University of Iloilo in the City Proper.
“This will enable students to achieve key learning outcomes on specialized laboratory courses and hospital-based clinical internships, and provide additional manpower to the country’s health system,” said CHED chairperson Prospero De Vera III.
The conduct of limited face-to-face classes will be prioritized for select health-related degree programs such as Medicine, Nursing, Medical Technology/Medical Laboratory Science, Physical Therapy, Midwifery, and Public Health.
These colleges and universities passed stringent retrofitting and health standards set by the CHED, the Department of Health and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, according to De Vera.
“These schools have been inspected by CHED and their local government unit for their capacity to hold hands-on training and laboratory classes for 3rd and 4th year students,” he added.
Aside from these four tertiary schools, 20 more institutions of higher learning across the country were given the go-signal to conduct limited face-to-face classes.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said he would consider the resumption of face-to-face classes in learning institutions after the rollout of two million vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019./PN
