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By Llanesca T. Panti, Reporter
AFTER six universities moved the opening
of their classes to give their students some time to take
precautions against Influenza A(H1N1), the Commission on Higher
Education (CHED) announced on Saturday that it has also moved the
official start of college classes from Monday June 8, tomorrow, to
Monday June 15.
CHED Chairman Emmanuel Angeles said the one-week
suspension would be enough time for students who have arrived from
abroad to meet the June 8 opening schedule to quarantine themselves
and be free sure of being free of this flu type by June 14.
The CHED announcements were broadcast throughout
the country.
Earlier, the Far
Eastern University (FEU), Polytechnic University of the Philippines
(PUP), Saint Paul University-Manila, University of Asia and the
Pacific (UA&P), the University of the Philippines-Manila (UP)
and the University of Santo Tomas (UST) had declared changes in
their opening dates.
Before these six schools announced the changes
in their opening schedules, the PUP and UST had earlier moved the
opening of classes to June 15. The FEU rescheduled its opening to
June 17, the UA&P deferred classes to June 22 and instead of the
original June 10 schedule, and Saint Paul postponed its opening to
June 16.
The six schools made the announcements after the
De La Salle University in Manila suspended its classes from June 3
to June 14 because three DLSU students, among them, two Japanese
exchange students, were sick of A(H1N1) flu.
Speaking in Tagalog on DzRB, the CHED chairman
said the reason for his decision is the big number of foreign and
Filipino students arriving from countries “that have swine flu
victims.”
Over ABS-CBN stations, CHED’s Deputy Executive
Director Julito Vitriolo said Chairman Angeles memo was also
prompted by the continuing inclement weather. Heavy rains and
flooding would make students who catch cold prone to catch the flu
virus from carriers from abroad.
He added that the suspension of class opening
would also be a favor to parents facing financial difficulties.
Vitriolo also pointed out that the one-week
postponement is still within the classes opening window to CHED.
Private colleges he said have until June 29 to open their classes.
Vice President scores deferment
Also on Saturday Vice President Noli de Castro,
however, scored the universities that decided to move the opening of
classes.
He said the change in school opening schedules
won’t do anything to make students safer from the A(H1N1) flu.
Vice-President de Castro was reacting to
announcement of the six universities, but not to that of CHED, which
he did not know about when he made his statement.
He said suspending classes is not the key to
stopping the spread of the virus, because there is no guarantee that
those who came from abroad would really observe self-quarantine.
“Now that the classes our suspended, not
all students will stay at home. I’m sure they will go to the mall,
while some will go to their school anyway to enroll. How can we be
sure that they are not spreading the virus?” de Castro said in his
radio program Para Sa ‘Yo, Bayan.
Another glaring fact to consider, he
added, is that the A(H1N1) scare will still be there even until June
15 and onwards.
Postponing classes, he said, would keep the
students from learning.
De Castro said what the universities should do
is to ensure that their toilet facilities are clean, and that these
are provided with hand soap, hand sanitizers and even hand dyers.
“If they really want to protect their
students, they should provide their students with these things. They
are all capable of putting these in place instead of suspending
classes,” he added.
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