Ched lifts ban on field trips, but issues stricter regulations

Prospero de Vera III. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

(Updated, 2:01 p.m.) The Commission on Higher Education (Ched) has lifted the ban on field trips in public and private colleges and universities in the country.

Commissioner Prospero de Vera confirmed in a Palace briefing on Wednesday that Ched Chairperson Patricia Licuanan signed Memorandum Order No. 63 on July 25, which issues new guidelines on conducting off-campus field trips.

“The CHED has lifted the moratorium on off-campus activities of higher education institutions,” De Vera said.

He said the moratorium was lifted effective August 8 or 15 days after the publication of the order.

The Ched official said the agency had “tightened the regulations” for off-campus activities.

BACKSTORY: CHEd clarifies field trip halt; cites excluded activities

He said Ched has worked with the Department of Tourism, the Department of Interior and Local Government, the Land Transportation Office, the Land Transportation, Franchising and Regulatory Board, and the leagues of cities and municipalities of the Philippines to craft new guidelines that would cover all off-campus activities.

“So we’ve expanded the coverage of the circular of the Commission not only for field trips but all other activities that involve students when they leave their schools,” he said.

“And this includes not just field trips but students who go on competitions outside their school, when they attend conferences and symposia, when they do immersion programs, when they go on sports activities,” he added.

The Ched official said the new regulations would make sure students are protected.

“We will require them to have insurance for students, check the registration, insurance, franchise, and road-worthiness of vehicles used in the transportation of students, coordinate with local government units, because there have been incidents in the past, like in Bulacan State University, where students went on a field trip and the students drowned,” he said.

“So we are requiring written consent of parents and if needed, medical clearance for students that go on field trips and other out-of-school activities and to make sure that universities provide alternative activities for students who cannot attend off-campus activities,” he added.

He said the new regulations would make sure institutions which send their students to off-campus activities would be accountable.

“So now we’re requiring higher education institutions to make sure and be accountable that when they send their students outside the university, there are faculty or persons in charge that will monitor what the students are doing,” he said.

Ched issued a moratorium on field trips following the deadly crash in Tanay that killed 15 students on a field trip in February. IDL