The Coordinating Council for Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) said their members are ready to support the plan of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to fully implement face-to-face classes nationwide by November of this year.
COCOPEA chair Dr. Anthony Tamayo said member-schools have been preparing for face-to-face classes for months.
“In general, we are ready to comply with the directive of the President to go back to full face-to-face classes untilNovember. In fact, as soon as the alert level went down to alert level 1 in March, we started preparing already,” said Tamayo, who is also president of the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA (UPHSD).
He also suggested several favorable conditions that might facilitate the return to face-to-face classes based on consultations with COCOPEA members.
“As the safety of our students, teachers, and other personnel are paramount, expediting their vaccination and stricter adherence to the minimum public health standards would help persuade parents to send their children back to school,” he said.
Furthermore, the simplifying or streamlining of procedures and requirements for schools intending to return to face-to-face classes will greatly aid in the participation of more schools and a faster turnaround.
Tamayo also appealed that if face-to-face classes are to be mandated in September, private schools still be given the flexibility to offer hybrid or full online classes.
He also stressed that the final decision on whether the learner returns to face-to-face classes or attends hybrid or fully online classes depends on the parents.
Founded in 1961, COCOPEA is the unifying voice of private education and takes the lead in public policy development for the sector. There are some 2500 private schools around the country that comprise this umbrella organization.
The associations that comprise COCOPEA are the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU); Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP); Philippine Association of Private Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAPSCU); Association of Christian Schools, Colleges and Universities (ACSCU); and Unified TVET of the Philippines, Inc. (UniTVET).
