CHED to improve its class suspension protocol

Heeding complaints from students trapped in flooded streets around Metro Manila in last week’s monsoon rains brought by tropical storm “Falcon”, The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) vowed to improve its class suspension protocol to include occasions of severe weather and flooding in areas not under storm alerts. CHED memo order no. 34 series of 2010, classes in the college-level will only be automatically suspended during a signal no. 3 typhoon. Schools are given discretion to suspend classes during signal no. 1 and 2 typhoons.

Social networking sites were abuzz as students wait for the announcement of suspension.

Twitter user @janinageronimo has this to say  “Don't ever expect CHED to suspend college classes unless you want another Ondoy.” Another twitter user @alvindakis said “CHED defers decision to school admins if classes were to suspend. Maybe they'll be happier to see students float in the streets, literally.” COMELEC Spokesman James Jimenez also vent ire on the micro blogging site “If CHED can't decide, at least it should call all colleges and universities and report their responses. Service always.”, he tweeted.

Kabataan Partylist likewise scored CHED in its “weak and indecisive” suspension of class policy. “Students are battered every time they are forced to brave the stormy weather to go to school. This unnecessary agony could be prevented if CHED would be more decisive in exercising it regulatory powers with regard to the suspension of classes .

“We’ll try to make it easier for our students.”

CHED executive director Julito Vitriolo said the commission would tap social media (Yes, twitter/facebook) and maximize its website (www.ched.gov.ph) to make timely announcements about class suspensions, including discretionary decisions of individual universities and colleges. “What we will do is order our regional offices to collate information.  We’ll improve information dissemination so that the students will be better informed in decision-making,” Vitriolo said.

He said CHED relies on information from the weather bureau and disaster agencies in deciding whether to suspend classes in certain areas. “There are constraints but, for example, certain universities have suspended classes, we will collate that information and relay that [to media] for broadcast, although schools can already go straight to media also,”. He further said that CHED will be “more proactive” and make use of “social communication” to provide students advance information about class suspensions, recognizing that the sector it serves relies more on the Internet for information.

Note: In NCR alone, CHED holds authority to over 300 public and private higher education institutions. Nationwide, there are about 2,180 colleges and institutions under CHED.