An institution in Davao City, also known as Malayan Colleges Mindanao, A Mapúa School, is making preparations for the reopening of campus for limited face-to-face classes later this year or early next year.
This follows the release of separate Joint Memorandum Circulars (JMC) of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Education (DepEd) with the Department of Health (DOH), namely, CHED-DOH JMC 2021-001 and DepEd-DOH JMC No. 001 s.2021, respectively.
Based on CHED-DOH’s JMC 2021-001, Engineering, HRM, Tourism, and Marine Transportation programs have been approved for limited face-to-face classes. Meanwhile, based on DepEd- DOH JMC No. 001 s.2021, pilot face-to-face classes will start on November 15, 2021.
Facade of the Malayan Colleges Mindanao campus at Gen. Douglas MacArthur Highway, Matina, Davao City, taken pre-pandemic
“MCM is in the process of adjusting its physical plant and facilities (campus, laboratories, library, etc.) [to follow] safety and health protocols [and] to comply with CHED, DepEd, and DOH’s Joint Memorandum Circulars.” shared Engr. Alejandro H. Ballado, Vice President for Academic Affairs at MCM.
The iPeople Schools, including MCM, have been planning for possible school reopening as soon as the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) was declared in March 2020. As such, the school strictly mandates proper guidelines and protocols in-campus to ensure health and safety, including protocols for students exhibiting minor coughs, colds, or fever.
The main highlight is MCM’s classrooms and laboratories which have been arranged accordingly to observe social distancing and proper ventilation — such as fitted acrylic barriers installed between teachers and students, air-conditioning, open windows, and fan for sustained airflow measured by an anemometer; and an arranged blended learning set-up.
An acrylic barrier is installed between the teacher and student at the MCM Machine Shop for engineering students (Disclaimer: there were no students present during this shoot).
An online and limited face-to-face set-up in the classroom has been prepared by the institution by use of its video-conferencing tools such as Microsoft Teams to stream the ongoing class to other students who are watching from home — optimizing the online and offline classroom set-up while still ensuring that those who do not have fast internet connection can still watch the recording of the session in their own time.
Prior to the actual campus reopening for limited face-to-face classes, MCM will conduct consultations with parents, students, faculty, non-teaching personnel, and LGU to address any concerns. Afterward, Authority to Reopen will be secured from the CHED and DepEd regional offices with close coordination as well from the Davao City local government officials.
During limited face-to-face classes, the teacher also holds synchronous classes for those who are not on campus. (Disclaimer: there were no students present during this shoot).
Moreover, MCM is continually preparing the entire campus for the rest of the College Programs’ and High School Department’s openings, in anticipation of CHED and DepEd’s further release of additional guidelines.
“Once the school has completed the retrofitting of the campus and the relevant adjustments, the school will conduct a self-assessment and eventually submit its application to CHED and DepEd Region XI offices for the necessary evaluation and approval.” Engr. Alejandro H. Ballado further explained.
After receiving approval from CHED and DepEd, MCM will gradually reopen the campus for College and High School students to accommodate those who want to participate in limited face-to-face classes.
MCM has shown that they are more than ready with an earlier launch of their Flexible Learning Options in past months — a learning set-up that uses blended learning (in-campus and limited face-to-face classes) or remote learning (fully online).
Malayan Colleges Mindanao, A Mapúa School, is now open for new students and transfer applicants for SY: 2021
