Just three hours after students heard it on a local radio station or saw a post on Facebook, the management of the Catanduanes State University revoked an announcement of an adjusted learning set-up last Monday, April 7, 2025.
The announcement posted on the CatSU FB page stated that “due to the projected high heat index in the province,” an adjusted learning set-up for all levels would be adopted in both campuses (CatSU Main and Panganiban), effective that day.
Under the set-up, classes from 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM will be on face-to-face modality while classes from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM will shift to online modality to avoid the peak of the heat index.
Classes will then revert to face-to-face modality for the remaining period of 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
It likewise advised that Physical Education classes scheduled between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM should be conducted only in covered or shaded facilities to prevent heat-related risks.
The post also said that the General Services Unit and the Medical Services will be on standby to assist in any heat-related emergency.
All colleges and laboratory schools were directed to provide accessible water dispensers outside their buildings to help students stay hydrated throughout the day, it added.
In the subsequent announcement made hours later, CatSU Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Dr. Roberto B. Barba Jr. revoked the announcement, claiming that it was due to miscommunication.
Alleging that he was surprised by the post, he told the CatSU Statesman that he was not aware of the FB announcement, prompting him to take down the post.
According to the OIC, it was not what he had instructed and that the decision to adopt the adjusted learning set-up was made during a meeting two weeks ago that he was not able to attend.
The report said the decision to resort to online modality during high heat index was the recommendation of Student Regent Virgilio Cortado Jr. during the meeting with Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Gemma Acedo and the deans of the different colleges.
Describing the adjusted learning set-up as impractical, Dr. Barba said that the university is equipped to handle the high heat index with the presence of coping mechanisms like water dispensers, electric fans, air-conditioning and green spaces around the campus.
The OIC may be right about the set-up as impractical, as it would mean added costs for students who live relatively far from the campus.
They would have to incur two more extra tricycle rides to go home and return to school by 4 PM for the face-to-face classes. And this “dagdag-gastos” does not include an additional outlay for WiFi load for the online classes.
A check of PAGASA’s records for climatological normal for the Virac Synoptic Station at San Isidro Village shows that the average maximum temperature and relative humidity for the period April to August from 1991 to 2020 are as follows: April, 32.2˚C and 85%; May, 32.1˚C and 85%; June, 32.1˚C and 86%; July, 31.6˚C and 87%; and August, 32.0˚C and 86%.
Using the heat index calculators available on the Web, it can be inferred that for the 30 years from 1991 to 2020, the capital town of Virac had endured the following average heat index for said five-month period every year: 43 degrees for April, 47 degrees for May, 47 degrees for June, 46 degrees for July and 47 degrees for August.
It is only in recent years that PAGASA had warned of the effects of high heat index, with the averages for Virac from 1991 to 2020 surely indicating that its population had been exposed to what the weather agency describes as a dangerous level that could likely lead to heat cramps and heat exhaustion.
Verification made by this paper with the DepEd Catanduanes Schools Division that not one public school or local government unit requested for suspension of classes due to the projected heat index last Monday, April 7, 2025.
It makes you wonder if indeed, CatSU OIC Dr. Roberto Barba was correct in labeling the announcement brouhaha as a miscommunication. Or was it just somebody else prematurely flexing academic muscles, especially in the light of the ongoing search for the new university president?