ALLOWING face-to-face classes even in limited form will not only help the education sector but also the economy, the Commission on Higher Education said on Wednesday.

CHED Chairman Prospero De Vera III said the agency is pushing for the resumption of physical classes because schools are the “drivers of the economy” of local government units.

“We have to revive the schools because they are part of the economic structure of the local governments,” De Vera said in a media briefing.

“‘Yung school ho, mayroon auxiliary services ‘yan – pagkain, transportation, school supplies, etc. Bumubuhay po ang isang eskwelahan ng napakaraming business around it,” he added.

Currently, in-person classes are only allowed in select degree programs like health and science, technology and engineering, tourism and hospitality managements and maritime.

To reopen more schools, De Vera said the commission is aiming to increase the vaccination rate of the education sector, particularly the students.

“For the faculty and employees, hindi na natin masyadong problema kasi they were classified by the IATF as A4. So, they are part of the A1 to A4 vaccination group,” he said.

“But it’s the students because they belong to B1 as part of the general population. We should now start targeting them,” he added.

The CHED chief earlier said that almost 73 percent of education frontliners and students in 1,488 higher education institutions have been vaccinated against Covid19.

However, De Vera pointed out that universities and colleges in areas with inadequate supply of Covid19 vaccines have low vaccination turnout.

To increase the vaccination rate in other schools, CHED on Wednesday launched a vaccination caravan called “Padyak Para sa Flexible Learning, Sama-Samang Vaccination Program” in Mabalacat City College and Our Lady of Fatima University in San Fernando, Pampanga.

The caravan will travel to different parts of the country in the coming weeks.