THE Commission on Higher Education yesterday warned parents against enrolling their students in the Doctor of Medicine program allegedly being offered by a campus of the Bulacan State University (BulSU), saying it has yet to approve the program.
CHED Chairperson Prospero de Vera issued the warning after the Commission received information that the BSU College of Medicine at its San Rafael campus has opened the door to an initial 50 students as the academic year 2023-2024 begins.
“The Commission wishes to inform the public that BulSU has no CHED-approved Doctor of Medicine program and cannot accept students this first semester of 2023-2024, the university can accept students only after the evaluation of their facilities, faculty, curriculum and training hospital and upon approval of the CHED Commission En Banc,” de Vera said.
“CHED is still in the process of evaluating the application, as a fact, the institution has just been subjected to ocular inspection last June 19, 2023, and was given until July 31, 2023 to correct the noted deficiencies during the evaluation,’ he added.
De Vera said BulSU even requested an extension of the submission of its compliance documents and was given until August 11 this year to submit the needed documents.
“The submitted documents will still be referred to the technical panel for medicine, the advisory arm of the Commission, for their appropriate action and recommendation,” the CHED chief said.
De Vera said the approval and issuance of the authority to operate higher education programs such as Doctor of Medicine are incumbent upon the authority of the Commission en banc.
“Hence, higher education institutions shall not be allowed to admit students without (the) prior approval and authority granted by the Commission,” he added.
DEPED READY
The Department of Education and its partner agencies yesterday said they are ready to cope with the influx of students for the August 29 opening of classes in public schools.
Education Undersecretary for Operations Revsee Escobedo said they expect challenges to come up, especially since it marks the full return to face-to-face classes after nearly three years of blended learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Since we are still in recovery mode, the opening of another school year is very critical to improving the learning outcomes of more than 28 million learners. We expect that this coming school year, we are welcoming 28 million learners,” Escobedo said during Tuesday’s formal launch of the Oplan Balik Eskwela program of the department.
“This year, we acknowledge that we will face a lot of tasks and challenges on top of the perennial problems that we have, but rest assured that DepEd will continue its efforts to address these challenges but we will need a whole-of-nation approach for this,” he added.
He said the department under Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte is working overtime to ensure that schools will have access to basic necessities before the opening of classes.
“We also need to ensure that our schools and classrooms are physically ready, safe, fully functional and supportive of fundamental learning. But this undertaking cannot be done by DepEd alone, that’s why we are reaching out to our partners once again,” he said.
Escobedo said with the assistance of partner agencies, the DepEd expects the opening of classes to be “smooth, safe and orderly.”
Earlier, Duterte said DepEd is prioritizing the repair of 559 classrooms in 169 schools in the Cordillera Administrative Region, National Capital Region, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol Region, and Eastern Visayas that sustained damage due to typhoon Egay and other weather disturbances brought by the southwest monsoon.
The department placed the total cost for reconstruction and rehabilitation of the classrooms at P810 million.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers last week called on the DepEd to ensure that schools that sustained damage due to Egay and other weather disturbances are ready to accept learners for the August 29 opening of classes.
Education Undersecretary and Spokesperson Michael Poa said they expect an increase in the number of enrollees for the upcoming school year from 28.4 million students to 28.8 million.
There are currently 44,931 public schools and 12,162 private schools nationwide.
The DepEd said it is also working with the Department of Health and local health units to ensure the health of students, teachers and non-teaching staff, with a particular focus on water and food-borne diseases, influenza, leptospirosis and dengue.
It said it is also working to ensure proper ventilation in classrooms. especially with the hot temperature exacerbated by the El Nino phenomenon.
“El Nino phenomenon will likely persist until at least the first quarter of 2024,” a representative from the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Services Administration said during the Oplan Balik Eskwela presentation.
The state weather bureau said it expects two or three tropical cyclones this month and a similar number in September and October.
For November and December, the state weather bureau said it expects one or two tropical cyclones each.
The PNP said 37,264 policemen will be deployed to secure public schools nationwide for the opening of classes, while another 7,538 will guard the premises of private schools.
National Capital Region Police Office Director Brig. General Jose Melencio Nartatez said they will deploy 5,085 police officers to secure 1,262 public and private schools in Metro Manila.
“The police officers include K9, mobile and foot patrols, and explosives ordnance division will intensify law enforcement activities at schools, transportation hubs, and places of convergence to secure students, guardians and teachers from crime incidents such as physical injuries, theft, and robbery, among others,” Nartatez said.
He said a total of 668 police assistance desks to be manned by 1,572 police officers will also be set up near the entrance gates of school campuses in coordination with DepEd.
“The safety and security of the students is our top priority. We have already established a security plan including the deployment of our personnel ready to assist and watch over the safety of students, as well as all the teachers and guardians,” he said.
The Land Transportation Office said it will also deploy its officers in areas where “densely populated schools” are located to prevent the violation of transportation rules and regulations, including the operation of “colorum’ public utility vehicles and dilapidated, overloaded, and unregistered school service vehicles.
Among the areas with a dense concentration of schools in Metro Manila are the University Belt in Espana and Mendiola, along Katipunan Avenue, Batasan Hills, and Commonwealth Ave., all in Quezon City.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board said it has approved 4,202 applications to operate school service vehicles nationwide.
Inter-Agency Council for Traffic (I-ACT) Chairperson Charlie Del Rosario said eight teams composed of 79 personnel will be deployed in the EDSA Carousel route on a three-shift schedule to cover round-the-clock duties of all 19 EDSA Busway stations.
“This is to ensure not just safe and orderly traffic flow but also the safety of students and other passengers availing of the services of the EDSA Busway against lawless elements,” Del Rosario said.
He said another team composed of seven personnel, including five from the Philippine Coast Guard, will be tasked to monitor the bike lane networks in areas most affected by the opening of classes in the metropolis.
Del Rosario said I-ACT personnel will be deployed along La Salle Greenhills, Marcos Highway, Espana and Sampaloc areas in Manila, Ramon Magsaysay in Cubao, and other areas where its assistance is necessary.
The Department of Trade said it is continuously monitoring the prices of school supplies, with particular focus on notebooks, pad paper, pencil and ballpen, crayons, erasers, sharpeners and rulers.
