Representatives of the Cebu City government, Commission on Higher Education, the Department of Health, and executives of a local university in the city facilitated the start of the inoculation of their students. | CANDICE GOTIANUY
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) in Central Visayas has urged college students to get Covid-19 jabs in preparation for the possible resumption of face-to-face (F2F) classes.
CHED Central Visayas Director Maximo Aljibe said schools should not be the only ones to prepare for the possible resumption of the F2F classes but students in all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
Aljibe said CHED has also sought the help of HEIs in the region to encourage and facilitate the vaccination of their enrollees as their contribution to the vaccination rollout of the national government that started Friday, Oct. 22.
Though it is not a requirement for HEIs workers and students to get jabs, Aljibe said it is “for the safety of all.”
Aljibe said non-vaccinated HEIs workers could not be fired “because it is not in the law.” The same goes for the admission of non-vaccinated students, he said. “Karapatan ng mga bata yun.”
The education official explained that getting vaccinated is the best option than getting infected because some schools might not have effectively or fully implemented retrofitting of their classrooms because of the lack of funds.
In September, CHED started allowing F2F classes for medical and allied programs after some HEIs retrofitted their facilities and revised their curriculum.
Some of the essential retrofitting in classrooms are improvements in ventilation, installing glass barrier shields on shared workstations, and setting up a quarantine or isolation area for suspected Covid patients.
Under the limited F2F classes in HEIs, only ten students are allowed in a classroom that could accommodate 50.
The commission has also coordinated with the Office of the President to start inoculation of college students through their respective localities.
For the current school year, CHED Central Visayas reported that out of 308,000 HEIs students, only 61,000 are vaccinated, mostly medical and allied health program students who will be allowed to hold limited F2F classes early this year. – Ryan Sorote