IT’S up to private schools if they will also adjust their academic calendars and sync it with public schools, the Department of Education (DepEd) said yesterday following its announcement that government-run learning institutions will be slowly returning to the old June to March school year starting school year 2024-25.
“They still have the option to maintain their approved calendar or adjust accordingly,” DepEd Assistant Secretary Francis Bringas told the Bagong Pilipinas public briefing on PTV 4.
Bringas made the statement after the issuance of Department Order No. 003 setting the end of the school year 2023-2024 for public schools on May 31, 2024 as it gradually shifts to the old academic calendar with the months of April and May as summer vacation.
The department order set SY 2024-25 to start on July 29 and end on May 16, 2025.
DepEd projects classes to begin reverting to mid-June by SY 2026-27, with the school break starting by the first week of April.
Bringas pointed out that some private schools opened the current academic year in July or June last year, while some opened in August along with public schools.
“‘Yung mga private schools na sumabay sa public schools na nag-open ng August, hindi naman sila mandatory na mag-adjust ng kanilang school calendars (The private schools that opened in August, they are not mandated to adjust their school calendars),” he said.
On Wednesday, Vice President and concurrent Education Secretary Sara Duterte said stakeholders were consulted before the DepEd decided to adjust the school calendar.
“Nag-consult tayo sa mga teachers, sa mga stakeholders, sa mga parents, and sa mga students (We consulted with teachers, stakeholders, parents, and students),” she told reporters in San Antonio, Agdao, Davao City.
