Commissioner Darilag visits SLSU, lays plans with university officials in preparation for the limited f2f classes
CHED (Commission on Higher Education) Commissioner and Southern Leyte State University’s (SLSU) Board of Regents Chairperson, Dr. Aldrin A. Darilag, paid a visit to the university for the third time on Friday, November 19, to discuss the conduct of the limited face-to-face classes together with the university key officials and campus directors.
SLSU has applied for the conduct of the limited face-to-face classes for second semester of the academic year 2021-2022 intended for the laboratory subjects of Industrial Technology, Food Technology, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management.
As recommended by CHED, SLSU will employ the 4-10 attendance scheme where students will attend laboratory classes for 4 straight days and 10 days for flexible learning for lecture classes at home. Each college will arrange the schedule and the list of the students who will attend a specific series of classes to ensure the safety of students and faculty.
The university through the different units and taskforces will prepare the campus for the limited face-to-face classes. This includes the installation of foot bath and washing facilities in all the buildings of the campus, acquisition of thermal scanners, retrofitting of the laboratory rooms, posting of signage in every laoratory room and in all conspicuous places in the library and food court where students may congregate.
For the time being, the limited face-to-face classes will prioritize the junior and senior students especially the graduating ones. Although the vaccines are now available for those below 18 years old, vaccinated freshmen and sophomore students shall need to wait for a little while as adjustments will happen later on.
“We just have to make sure that everyone is protected and safe as we gradually reopen the face-to-face classes. We cannot take risk of bringing them all here and put their lives in danger. For now, we are doing it slowly but surely.” University President Dr. Prose Ivy G. Yepes said.
On November 9, the local government of Sogod, Rural Health Unit (RHU), and the Philippine National Police (PNP) visited SLSU for an ocular inspection to identify the retrofitting designs to ensure strict compliance to the guidelines set by CHED, Department of Health (DOH), and the university.
During the discussion, President Yepes and Dr. Annabelle M. Hufalar, Vice President for Students and Auxiliary Service, said that the university is yet to discuss with the local government of Sogod the possibility of lowering the fare for students in order to minimize their expenses.
Boarding houses have also undergone assessment by the university along with the concerned government agencies to have them ready for occupancy for the students.
Further, Commissioner Darilag also encouraged all faculty, staff, and students to get vaccinated in order to participate in the in-person classes despite vaccination not mandatory by the government. He highlighted that vaccination is one of the factors for the low infection rate among the first batch of students who attended in-person classes for medicine and health science degree programs from other universities, saying that SLSU must follow.
“The transmission of the virus is significantly high if you put vaccinated and unvaccinated personnel and students in one place. If one wants to engage in face-to-face classes, they must be vaccinated”, Commissioner Darilag said, emphasizing that the unvaccinated faculty and staff can work from home while vaccinated students can do their classes remotely.
President Yepes urged the university personnel and students to be ambassadors of vaccination in gearing towards a better new normal.