Colleges and universities in the country are allowed to have their own interpretation on how to implement the flexible learning system in the next school year amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, the chief of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) said Thursday.

Dr. J. Prospero E. de Vera III, the CHED chairperson, said there are no standard guidelines for the flexible learning policy because “it depends on the situation on the ground in every region.”

“You look into the (tertiary) schools and universities and you will be surprised how creative they can (implement) do with flexible learning,” he said.

De Vera said the online learning method is only one of the many approaches under the flexible learning setup.

He said flexible learning should allow tertiary schools to “mix and match” the methods in delivering their lessons to the students.

For instance, a flexible arrangement can be a combination of modular and limited face-to-face sessions in which students would go to the schools to obtain guidance from teachers on the activities contained in the modules.

Colleges and universities should look at the students and working staff, including the faculty, as well as their capacity to see whether or not they can adjust to a given flexible learning arrangement, the CHED chief said.

De Vera was in El Salvador City, Misamis Oriental, to check on the local government’s community college.

Northern Mindanao, he said, is the second region he visited to look for participating schools to “retrofit” into becoming vaccination centers.