MANILA, Philippines — Colleges and universities will no longer be allowed to offer fully-online classes beginning next semester unless given specific clearance by the Commission on Higher Education.
The Philippines was among the last countries to reopen its campuses to students amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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"The impact of resuming on-site learning, also known as classroom-based, face-to-face, or in-person learning experiences on the overall well-being of higher education learners cannot be overemphasized even in situations where emerging technologies, modalities, and methodologies of learning have been rapidly developed and implemented," the CHED memorandum read.
All higher educational institutions are required to submit to their respective CHED regional offices a framework of their teaching and institutional plans to implement a fully onsite or hybrid learning program at least a month before the semester starts.
Colleges and universities are now required to design degree programs through on-site learning or by offering hybrid classes, where students spend 50% of the course in school.
This means that for a three-unit course with a class time of 54 hours, at least 27 hours should be spent on campus or in other physical learning facilities. The other 27 hours may be spentused for self-studying, online learning modules, asynchronous/synchronus learning sessions, among others.
The National Service Training Program will also be conducted onsite and may be designed with other flexible learning strategies.
CHED in its memorandum also ordered laboratory classes and on-the-job training programs to be done in-person.
"In cases where partner host training establishments have integrated emerging remote work modalities, including online options in the OJT and apprenticeship programs, the equivalent hours shall be included in reckoning the total training hours," it said.