THE UNIVERSITY will no longer require students to have medical insurance before participating in limited face-to-face classes (F2F) for Academic Year (AY) 2022-2023, the Office of the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs (OVRAA) said.
Students were previously required to secure a PhilHealth membership or medical insurance before participating in F2F classes, but the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases, through IATF Resolution No. 168-B, repealed the requirement on May 26.
UST, however, still strongly encourages parents and students to register or maintain their health insurance for additional financial support in case of an illness.
“Consistent with IATF Resolution 168-B, PhilHealth registration or any equivalent medical insurance will no longer be a requirement for students to participate in F2F classes,” Vice Rector for Academic Affairs Prof. Cheryl Peralta told the Varsitarian.
“However, the University strongly encourages students and parents to still register or maintain their Philhealth membership or supplemental insurance coverage to serve as additional financial support in case of illness, not just for Covid-19,” she added.
Aside from medical insurance, the University also requires students to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to participate in in-person classes.
On April 29, the OVRAA announced that UST would continue to utilize the enriched virtual mode (EVM), but with two variants, the EVM hybrid mode and EVM hyflex mode, as the modes of instructional delivery for AY 2022-2023.
The EVM hybrid mode will require students to complete the necessary number of F2F sessions or hours to accomplish the intended learning outcomes and competencies of a specific course or subject. This will be utilized for courses or subjects whose outcomes and competencies could not be fully achieved with online learning.
Meanwhile, the EVM hyflex mode will give students an option to participate in either F2F or online classes. This mode will be for courses or subjects whose outcomes and competencies may be achieved with online learning, and in which F2F classes are only necessary to “enrich the learning experience.”
Limited F2F classes will automatically revert to online mode in case of heightened Covid-19 Alert Levels in Metro Manila.
Classes for Academic Year 2022-2023 will begin on Aug. 9. Justin Benedict T. Lim and Christine Joyce A. Paras
