WVSU gears up for limited face-to-face classes

The management of West Visayas State University (WVSU) assured the safety of its students after the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) allowed face-to-face classes that are limited to health profession programs.

Dr. Joselito Villaruz, WVSU president, said in a press statement that he will stand firm “on the University’s social responsibility by providing support to students, faculty, and staff in every possible way.”

During the university’s Crisis Management Committee meeting, Villaruz said they have prepared protocols to protect teachers and students for limited face-to-face instruction for the College of Medicine levels I-III students and College of Nursing students from 3^rd year to 4^th year.

WVSU is one of the 24 Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) that passed the assessment conducted by CHED, the Department of Health, and the Covid-19 Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).

Since the lockdowns in March 2020, WVSU has been involved with essential health activities including shifting into 100% online learning modalities, with asynchronous classes.

“We are not risking our students and faculty,” Villaruz said.

With the possible resumption of physical classes, Villaruz said they will not settle for anything less.

Self-assessment/readiness, retrofitting of classrooms, and setting of entrance with wash basins and temperature checks and separate exits, have been started.

Villaruz also issued a memorandum mandating students and teachers and other workers to download StaySafe.ph, an app that aids in contract tracing in the University.

Evaluation and monitoring of student health is also set in place.

An isolation/holding room and a quarantine facility will be available in the campus. Extracurricular activities are not allowed and students will be required to have their own medical insurance.

Transparency will also be addressed if there are Covid-19 cases, in coordination with the University’s base hospital, the WVSU Medical Center.

Villaruz also raised the importance of simulations and drills for student mobility going in and out the campus.

Biosafety lectures were started for the students and faculty and there will be more series of these to ensure everyone in the WVSU community is aware of protective measures.

Orientation on Covid-19 vaccines was also conducted as vaccination of faculty and staff is seen to be of priority after CHED moved the faculty and staff of HEIs to the A4 list, which includes frontline personnel in essential sectors identified by the Inter-Agency Task Force.

A meeting with the University stakeholders will be scheduled by April for further details and developments.

“This is a time of pandemic, we have a responsibility,” Villaruz said.

As a medical doctor himself, Villaruz stressed that the designation of WVSU as one of the vaccination centers in Iloilo province is part of their commitment to health and safety.