The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has approved the return to limited face-to-face classes for students of medicine and allied health sciences as well as universities in areas under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), Chairman Prospero De Vera III said.
CHED said other schools who wish to hold limited face-to-face classes must submit an application. Education authorities will then visit the campus to inspect its compliance with requirements for face-to-face classes.
Among the schools that have been allowed to hold limited face-to-face classes are the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila, Ateneo de Manila University, and the Our Lady of Fatima University in Valenzuela.
“The president has approved my recommendation to have limited face-to-face [classes] within higher education institutions in medicine and allied health sciences in MGCQ areas and in GCQ areas where the students go into COVID-19 hospitals,” De Vera said.
In the UP College of Medicine, over 200 students have been on rotation in hospitals for their internships. Around 180 students also returned to hospitals on January 18 for their clinical clerkships.
Since then, three interns and one clerk have tested positive for COVID-19.
“Mas marami ang transmission sa community kaysa sa ospital. That we already established because we did more than 11,000 testing for healthcare workers within PGH (Philippine General Hospital),” UP College of Medicine dean Dr. Charlotte Chiong said.
“We were pretty confident with our health protocols and this is the reason why I think we are actually confident of getting them back for their face-to-face rotations,” Chiong added.