9 Cebu City schools allowed to hold Face to face classes

CEBU, Philippines —  Nine colleges in Cebu City, mostly offering medical courses, have been given the green light to conduct limited face-to-face classes, the Emergency Operations Center announced yesterday.

According to EOC deputy chief implementer and City Councilor Joel Garganera, the EOC granted the nine schools the go signal to do limited in-person classes after due coordination with the Department of Health and the Commission on Higher Education.

The schools allowed to reopen for face-to-face class setup are Southwestern University-PHINMA (nursing, medical technology, and physical therapy), MHAM School of Medicine, University of Cebu-Banilad (nursing, medtech and midwifery), University of San Carlos Talamban Campus (nursing), St. Paul College (nursing and midwifery), School of Midwifery, Cebu Normal University (nursing), and Velez College (PT).

EOC also allowed one non-medical school, the University of Cebu-METC (nautical and maritime engineering) in Barangay Mambaling, to reopen for limited face-to-face classes.

“Ang atong mga eskwelahan kay ni-comply ra man gyud sila. Nagpadala ta og team (to inspect). Siyempre kauban nato ang CHED ug DOH. Siyempre prayoridad gyud ang implementation sa health protocols,” said Garganera.

Garganera said the administrations of these schools promised to control the number of students in the classrooms.

Since what has been granted permission is only limited face-to-face classes, this means that some class meetings will still be made virtually, especially those subjects that do not need practical exercises.

Earlier, the National Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), through Resolution No. 148-G, adopted CHED’s proposal for gradual opening of limited face-to-face classes in colleges, depending on the alert level in an area.

Garganera said they already have a check list on the compliance targets in this regard.

“Dunay may mga kurso nga importante kaayo ang pisikal nga klase. Apan kun ang subjects nga i-lecture lang, puwede ra na ibilin gihapon na sa virtual class aron dili pud magdasok sa mga eskwelahan,” he added.

The IATF allowed the conduct of limited face-to-face classes in places under alert levels 1, 2, and 3. Cebu City is under alert level 2.

The EOC will be inspecting more institutions of higher education in the coming days. It has formed several teams to monitor the gradual return of face-to-face classes in the city’s tertiary institutions.

These teams are composed of medical practitioners from the DOH, EOC, and CHED. — JMD (FREEMAN)