HIGHER education institutions (HEIs) are expected to adapt and ensure that college students and those enrolled in post-graduate courses will comply with the required achievements and outputs at the end of the semester even while the country is battling the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chairman Prospero de Vera, speaking at the “Laging Handa” public briefing, said the problem of starting the opening of the school year in August is not an issue for majority of colleges and universities since that is the usual start of their first semester under the new academic calendar.
“What will change is that many private universities who are still using the old calendar will now move also to August. We also proposed a rolling opening so that those who can do flexible learning can open in August and those who have difficulty can open in September or even later,” De Vera said.
He said the final decision of when to start classes will be left to the discretion of the Board of Regents of the universities based on their workable academic calendar.
In the intervening two months before August, De Vera said the CHED chairman will focus on assisting HEIs firm up their plans for taking on the challenges of providing instruction to students while limited by the enforced physical distancing and travel restrictions.
The chairman of CHED or his authorized representative sits as head of the Boards of all state colleges and universities (SUCs) hence the commission will get up-to-date information, De Vera pointed out.
For private universities and colleges, a little leg work is required.
“I will be conducting a more intensive region-based discussion with these universities. Because there are so many private universities in this country, I am planning to do regional Zoom
sessions with our regional directors to get more details,” he explained.
The CHED has issued a memorandum requiring universities that can train teachers on flexible learning to submit proposals for approval.
The commission is also coordinating with the Department of Communication and Information Technology (DICT) to undertake an assessment survey on the connectivity of all the campuses of state universities and colleges.
De Vera said this will cover more than 300 campuses to give the DICT and CHED a basis to evaluate their connectivity.
“The DICT and CHED will know what is the most strategic assistance that we can give, connectivity-wise, for the different campuses. And that same data on connectivity will be used by the higher education institutions to design their flexible learning,” he said.
“The learning outcomes, to achieve all requirements of the semester will still be the same. So there is no change in what we expect the students to learn, what they are supposed to achieve at the end of the semester,” he added.
