Commission on Higher Education (CHED) facade. (NOY MORCOSO / INQUIRER.net)
MANILA, Philippines — In-person classes will be required in higher education institutions (HEIs), which may however opt for a hybrid setup, starting in the second semester of the academic year 2022 to 2023, the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) announced on Wednesday.
CHEd issued guidelines on the matter in Memorandum Order No. 16, dated Nov. 11, but shared with the public only on Wednesday.
According to the order, HEIs cannot go into “full distance learning delivery including online modality” without CHEd approval.
HEIs opting to implement hybrid learning —which combines both onsite and remote learning — should allot “at least 50 percent of the total contact time” for in-person classes.
Contact time refers to the “total number of learning hours critical to achieving the intended learning outcomes of a course or subject.”
“For example, for a three-unit course which requires at least 54 contact hours, 27 hours should be spent on a physical learning facility such as a classroom, laboratory, and other related learning spaces,” the order says.
“The rest of the contact hours may be delivered through other FL [flexible learning] strategies such as, but not limited to, self-paced printed or online learning modules, synchronous/asynchronous learning sessions, and remote guided peer learning approaches,” the order adds.
Laboratory or shop courses with on-the-job training and apprenticeship programs must also be conducted primarily through onsite learning.
On the other hand, HEIs intending to run graduate and undergraduate programs through distance learning first get CHEd approval in accordance with the Open Distance Learning Act.
Those intending to operate via Transnational Education must likewise secure CHEd approval.
HEls are now also required to submit to CHEd regional offices their teaching and learning institutional plans towards transitioning to onsite or hybrid learning at least one month before their scheduled opening of classes.
The CHEd issued the order weeks after the Department of Education implemented full in-person starting on Nov. 2.