HEIs can seek approval for full distance learning continuity

MANILA, Philippines — Colleges and universities will still be allowed to implement full distance learning modalities provided they secure prior approval from the Commission on Higher Education or CHED.

CHED Chairman J. Prospero de Vera III clarified in a phone interview yesterday with The STAR that Higher Education Institutions (HEI) would not be totally prohibited from implementing distance learning modalities.

The commission earlier uploaded on its website a Nov. 11 memorandum enjoining HEIs to implement onsite learning or hybrid learning modality starting the second semester of school year 2022-2023.

CHED said those that intend to implement hybrid learning must allocate at least 50 percent of the total contact time in onsite learning experiences.

“Unless there is an approval from the Commission on Higher Education, an HEI cannot offer its recognized degree programs in full distance learning delivery including fully online modality,” read the memorandum.

De Vera said he would issue a revised version of the memorandum to clarify the guidelines for the continued implementation of distance learning modalities.

In the original memorandum, CHED said tertiary institutions intending to operate graduate and undergraduate programs through distance education must secure prior approval from the commission as mandated under Republic Act 10650 or the Open Distance Learning Act and other related policies.

Signed into law in 2014, the Open Distance Learning Act institutionalized distance education as a mode of learning at the tertiary level.

De Vera said they would revise the guidelines on the implementation of distance learning, noting how HEIs were able to adopt different flexible learning modalities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Noting that many HEIs have already planned their school year, he said the second semester might be identified as a transition period to give those that intend to continue distance learning enough time to secure CHED’s approval.

The revised memorandum on onsite learning will be issued next week, De Vera said.