Capacitation of Essential School Workers in Compliance with Philippine COVID-19 Guidelines: A Qualitative Study.

Introduction: Organizations, including higher education institutions (HEIs), have been mandated to protect employees Organizations, including higher education institutions (HEIs), have been mandated to protect employees from the threats of the COVID-19.from the threats of the COVID-19. Objective: This study sought to describe the perceptions of essential school workers (ESWs) of selected HEIs in the This study sought to describe the perceptions of essential school workers (ESWs) of selected HEIs in the southern Manila area in terms of how they were capacitated in compliance with national guidelines.southern Manila area in terms of how they were capacitated in compliance with national guidelines. Methods: A total of seven HEIs participated in this qualitative study. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted among four sectors of ESWs: security, maintenance, health services, and office staff. Thematic analysis was used to draw insights from the narratives of the FGDs. Results: Three themes emerged from the FGDs: material capacitation, programmatic capacitation, and issues and challenges. Conclusion: This study highlights that from the perspective of ESWs, HEIs in the southern Manila area exert efforts to comply with IATF guidelines through various expressions of material and programmatic capacitation to protect them from the threat of COVID-19. However, results also demonstrate challenges that deter full compliance and consistent implementation of the guidelines across institutions.