SCHOOL sports returns amid the waning Covid-19 pandemic after the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) announced on Monday that fully vaccinated student athletes could go back to training—and no longer in a bubble environment.
CHED Chairman Prospero de Vera III said 18 schools in Metro Manila—from the University Athletic Association of the Philippines and National Collegiate Athletic Association—could now reactivate their varsity squads whose training were shuttered for 20 months.
“Before, bubble training was essential, but now, they can train without a bubble setup,” De Vera said. “Student-athletes can return now because most of them are now fully-vaccinated.”
De Vera and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III inspected NCAA school Emilio Aguinaldo College’s gym on Monday and held a memorandum signing ceremony that approved the return of school sports.
The next step, according to de Vera, is for a technical working group to work on the return of collegiate competitions.
Both UAAP and NCAA are hoping to start their seasons in March 2022.