HEIs may suspend face-to-face classes under high alert levels, according to CHED.
CHED — On Wednesday, the Commission on Higher Education said that HEIs (higher education institutions) may preventively suspend limited face-to-face classes if they would be placed under granular lockdowns or under high alert levels.
According to CHED Executive Director IV Attorney Cinderella Benitez-Jaro, higher education institutions could automatically suspend in-person classes once their areas were placed under Alert Level 4 or 5.
“Of course, if the locality is classified at Alert level 4 and 5 under IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) resolution, there will be no in-person classes so there will be automatic preventive suspension for the entire HEI,” Benitez-Jaro said at an online press briefing.
Those higher education institutions may reopen their schools once their areas were “reclassified to Alert Level 3 or better”.
Benitez-Jaro also said that there could be temporary suspensions of classes if the locality of the higher education institution was placed under a granular lockdown.
Also, higher education institutions may impose suspension during the lockdown in cases of case clustering.
According to Benitez-Jaro, the preventive suspension for case clustering incidents would be “based on the assessment of the Crisis Management Committee of HEI” and upon consultation with the Local Task Force against COVID-19.
Higher education institutions may then continue limited face-to-face classes once they complete contact tracing, disinfection, and quarantine period for the suspected and confirmed cases.
The Commission on Higher Education said last November 15 that limited in-person classes for areas under Alert Level 2 may start this December.
Also, the IATF imposed phase implementation for face-to-face classes by allowing all higher education institutions in Alert Levels 1 and 2 to conduct in-person classes in December 2021 onwards while those in Alert Level 3 areas will start in January 2022 onwards.
READ ALSO: CHED Says Only Fully Vaxxed Students, Teachers Allowed To Join Limited Face-To-Face Classes
When asked about the possible suspension of face-to-face classes because of the Omicron variant, Benitez-Jaro said that they will just “abide by” IATF resolution if there will be changes in the conduct of in-person classes.
The Philippines has yet to detect the case of the Omicron variant, but it imposed travel restrictions in some countries with local transmission of the said variant and also temporarily halted the enforcement of a resolution that allowed entry of fully vaccinated foreigners with visa-free privileges.
When asked about the resumption of contact sports in colleges, Benitez-Jaro said that the Commission on Higher Education would need a request from athletic associations before granting collegiate sports activities.
“If it will now proceed with the opening of collegiate events, as of now, we haven’t received a letter of intent to resume (contact sports) from different athletic associations,” Benitez-Jaro said. “Once we have received the same in the existing guidelines, we will act on their request already.“
Currently, the Commission on Higher Education was inspecting facilities for training of NCAA schools to study the possibility of a bubble concept for the safety of student-athletes.
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