Assess campus, student connectivity — CHED

Assessment survey on the connectivity of campuses as well as students of state universities and colleges (SUCs) would help to effectively implement flexible learning amid the pandemic, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said.

"One of the characteristics of flexible learning is you design your delivery based on the situation of the students, the faculty, and the schools. You have to find out what percentage of students have no connectivity at all, have some connectivity, and have full connectivity, then design your classes based on that," CHED chairman J. Prospero De Vera III said.

According to De Vera, the commission, with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), is currently rolling out an assessment survey on the connectivity of the more than 300 campuses of the SUCs to obtain data needed for providing assistance.

"The DICT and CHED will know the most strategic assistance we can give connectivity-wise for the different campuses and that same data on connectivity will be used by the higher education institutes (HEIs) to design their flexible learning,"

De Vera explained.

On campuses where connectivity is weaker, De Vera has suggested the combination of residential and nonresidential learning systems with more offline options such as take-home exercises and requirements.

For students who have weaker connectivity, the higher education chief said they can still attend classes inside schools every other week or at least once a week, while those who have strong connectivity can receive online education.

“We will not allow schools to use systems that would put students at a disadvantage," the CHED chief said in Pilipino.