THE PAMANTASAN ng Lungsod ng Maynila welcomed students on Monday, the first day of classes, saying that the university was equipped to implement a blended learning scheme for the academic year 2020-2021.

“We are excited to welcome our students back to the University and see them online. We are excited to work together and transition to our new learning protocols as seamless as possible,” PLM President Emmanuel Leyco said.

For the past six months, the university conducted faculty trainings, class simulations, and en-hanced its digital learning platform in preparation for the shift to distance learning, he said.

“All colleges and departments have migrated classes to Microsoft Teams, which will be used as PLM’s virtual classrooms for the first semester. Faculty members have also uploaded their sylla-bus for re-spective course subjects on the platform,” the university said.

“Classes involving laboratory practices, physical education classes, and sessions for the National Service Training Program have also shifted online, resorting to ‘watch and learn’ strategies for the time being as face-to-face classes remain prohibited due to the Covid19 pandemic,” it added.

Despite some connectivity and adaptation issues encountered by some students from the Col-lege of Medicine and College of Law, who started their classes in September, the school admin-istration said that it is committed to provide quality education.

“We have reiterated our call for free access to reliable internet to support education under the new normal. This is the only way to ensure that all students and faculty members can move for-ward and no one will be left behind,” Leyco said.

Meanwhile, the school administration said that learning modules for students who have limited or no internet connectivity will be delivered every second and fourth Friday of the month through the City of Manila’s Barangay Bureau.