Iloilo City — Amid the pandemic, the Philippine education system is in peril due to the limited connectivity between the students and the academe. Institutions are taking vigorous steps in order to continue the school year safely while providing quality education to the learners despite the odds, just like how West Visayas State University (WVSU) – Main Campus plans to provide undergrad students with tablets for distance learning.

WVSU will provide an estimated 4,000 tablets for its undergraduate students that they will use for the first semester of the Academic Year 2020-2021.

Due to the ongoing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, face-to-face classes are not yet possible, hence, distance or remote learning methods will be used for the first semester. Moreover, blended learning will be used both for second semester and summer term, “if the situation permits”, according to the University.

Prior to this, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) already recommended higher education institutions in the country to use flexible learning methods, a combination of wired and non-wired learning modalities.

Through an online post, the University Student Council (USC) released a statement where the Board of Regents (BOR), during its meeting on July 3, approved a budget to procure learning resource packets or educational tablets for all undergraduate students in the Main Campus.

The Integrated Laboratory School (ILS), College of Medicine (COM), and Graduate School students, however, are not included. WVSU External Campuses and ILS students will be given an option to use printed modules and flash drives for the distance learning method.

The educational tablets will contain the syllabi, course policies, instructions, e-books, and other learning materials. University President, Joselito F. Villaruz clarified through an interview that Main Campus students will only borrow the said educational tablets, citing limited financial resources.

He also added that the University’s learning materials will be developed into four forms: learning packets, flash drives, printed copies, and a combination of flash drives and printed copies.