The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) issued a show-cause order against Isabela Isabela Colleges after one of its students, who attended face-to-face orientations, acquired COVID-19.
CHED, in a statement issued Tuesday night, said that a student who attended a class orientation in Isabela Colleges, Inc. in Cauayan City, Isabela, tested positive for COVID-19.
“Recently, a student from a private higher education institution (HEI) located in the City of Cauayan, Isabela, tested positive for COVID-19,” CHED said.
CHED said city health officials’ contact tracing identified up to 45 close contacts of the infected student, named by the Department of Health Region 2, as CV969.
“The report indicated that CV969 attended on 29 August 2020 an orientation conducted by the higher education institution intended for post-Baccalaureate students,” CHED added.
CHED Regional Office II validated that Isabela Colleges started conducting the series of face-to-face orientations on August 29.
Isabela Colleges also confirmed that it conducted classes as orientation sessions of the students every Saturday, CHED said.
CHED Region II also learned that the infected student was an employee of the local government unit of the City of Cauayan, studying professional education courses in Isabela Colleges.
Isabela Colleges to explain after student acquired COVID-19
“The CHED Advisories have consistently advised higher education institutions to refrain from conducting face-to-face or in-person classes or mass gatherings in their campuses,” CHED Chairman Prospero E. De Vera III said.
He stressed that CHED had not issued any policy to allow face-to-face classes.
“The IATF clearly states that limited face-to-face classes in low-risk MGCQ areas must comply with CHED guidelines,” De Vera said.
Isabela Colleges is given ten days to explain the incident after the show cause order was released.
In July, Malacañang announced that limited face-to-face classes would be allowed starting January 2021, subject to the guidelines given by the government:
- Face-to-face classes will be allowed only in low-risk areas, or those already at least under modified general community quarantine or in the transition phase between general community quarantine and the new normal.
- Face-to-face classes will be allowed in January 2021, or the third quarter of the school year. Private schools that have started limited face-to-face classes last June will be allowed to continue.
