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Unlike colleges and universities that were ordered to postpone class
openings because of the so-called swine flu, elementary and high
schools were to start school today, according to the Department of
Education.
Education Undersecretary Ramon Bacani said
Sunday that they see no need to suspend classes, which had already
started June 1 for some institutions. And he added, “We will
not” suspend classes for those schools that have already started.
Earlier, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED),
which regulates tertiary schools, ordered colleges and universities
to push back school opening to June 15, after three students from De
La Salle University in Manila tested positive for Influenza A(H1N1)
virus. That school’s main campus suspended classes until June
14, as a precaution to prevent the spread of that new strain of flu
virus.
Director Teresita Domalanta of the Education
department’s Metro Manila office also said that they have yet to
receive any advisory from the Department of Health on the matter
about A(H1N1).
Education Secretary Jesli Lapus earlier said the
majority of the students coming from vacation overseas were enrolled
in private schools.
He urged them to go on self-quarantine for 10
days before formally starting their school year, to ensure that they
do not have A(H1N1).
Time for self-quarantine
Chairman Emmanuel Angeles of the Commission on
Higher Education said the one-week postponement of opening for
tertiary schools would allow the self-quarantine of foreign and
Filipino students coming from abroad.
“Many foreign students studying in the
Philippines are still coming in for the opening of classes. Some of
them have come from countries where there are confirmed A(H1N1)
cases, [and] thus the rescheduling of the class opening will give
them time to self-quarantine,” he explained.
Angeles signed a memorandum circular Saturday
declaring the postponement of the opening of classes in the tertiary
level from today to June 15.
He said other factors contributed to the
decision to defer the opening of classes, such as the inclement
weather recently.
He added that the monsoon rains have caused
street flooding and traffic congestion, “which are not conducive
for both the students and the higher education institutions relative
to the opening of the school year.”
The deferment could also extend the enrolment
period in colleges and universities and allow “financially
handicapped” parents to raise enough money to enroll their
children, Angeles said.
Opening dates
The commission’s directive was followed by
several announcements by schools about the opening of their classes.
The University of Santo Tomas (UST) and the
University of the Philippines (UP) in Manila announced Friday that
they were deferring the opening of classes to June 15.
Far Eastern University (FEU) also announced it
would push back opening to June 17, also because of the flu scare.
The University of Asia and the Pacific (UAP)
also deferred the opening of its classes from June 10 to June 22.
School officials there said the activities connected to graduation
have also been postponed.
The University of the Philippines in Diliman,
Quezon City, will open classes on June 16.
Cristina Hidalgo, vice president for public
affairs of UP-Diliman, said UP campuses in Los Baños, Baguio,
Visayas and Pampanga would also postpone the opening of classes to
June 16. But UP-Manila and the campus in Mindanao would open classes
on June 15, she added.
Hidalgo said UP-Diliman also postponed the
freshman assembly, which was supposed to be held over the weekend to
welcome incoming freshmen.
De La Salle University, for its part, issued a
statement assuring the public that all efforts were being made to
contain the spread of the virus at its campuses.
Officials there were also coordinating with the
Department of Health in monitoring other possible flu cases among
its students.
The campus in Manila was now going through a
“disinfection process” to ensure the facilities were free of the
flu virus when classes resume on June 15, the statement added.
Make up classes
The Department of Education, meanwhile, ordered
elementary and high school officials to conduct “make up”
classes on Saturdays to compensate the lost school days when classes
in Metro Manila and nearby provinces were suspended because of heavy
rains and flooding.
Education Sec. Lapus explained that the
memorandum order was to ensure that the 204 school days (from June
1, 2009 to March 31, 2010) for this year was completed.
“Make up classes shall be held to compensate
for localized suspensions due to typhoons and other calamities or
other local celebrations such as town or barangay fiestas,
foundation day, anniversaries and holding of academic and
non-academic competitions in certain schools or areas,” according
to the department’s Order 25 series of 2009.
Heavy rains forced the suspension of classes on
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week.
-- Francis Earl A. Cueto And James Konstantin Galvez
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