IN preparation for the 2020-2021 school year in September, the Quezon City University’s Board of Regents has approved a P209-million supplemental budget for its learning continuity plan.
“Aside from providing modules and tablets for our public-school students, we also need to provide for our city’s college students as they too shall adapt the new normal in learning,” Mayor Joy Belmonte said.
She said university officials have been preparing a transition to flexible learning modalities of offline, online and blended learning amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Belmonte is the chairperson of the university’s Board of Regents.
One major program in the pipeline is the QCU’s laptop loan program, where both students and teachers with limited access to learning devices would become beneficiaries of laptops loaned to them during their stay at the university campus.
“We will still conduct offline classes for technical and practical learning but we will reduce our class size to only 15 to 20 students and ensure that safety protocols are in place,” QCU officer in charge Dr. Victor Endriga said.
He said the funds have also been allocated to the procurement of additional medical supplies and equipment.
The budget would also cover learning management systems for virtual learning, internet connectivity for students and faculty, computer software for all degree programs and online reference materials, and development of academic management systems for online processing of enrollment, among others.
With three campuses located in San Bartolome, San Francisco and Batasan, the university is expecting a total enrollment of at least 9,000 college students.
Since one of the campuses was also used as the city’s quarantine facility, the city government assured the students, faculties and parents that a thorough and stringent disinfection would be conducted in and around the campus.
“We thank the university for serving as a quarantine facility during our battle against COVID-19,” the city mayor said.