THE Department of Education yesterday said it will seek clarification from President Marcos Jr. on his statement that he is open to the immediate return of the old school calendar amid the extreme heat the country is experiencing that has led to more than 5,800 schools nationwide suspending face-to-face classes in favor of alternative distance learning.
In an ambush interview in San Juan, the President said the government is exerting all efforts to expedite the return of the school calendar to its pre-pandemic schedule.
He said there is a consensus to revert to the pre-pandemic school calendar of June to March but they have yet to determine when it would be implemented.
“Hangga’t maari gusto nating ibalik sa dati dahil medyo may consensus na talaga na mas maganda iyung dating schedule. Sa aming palagay mahihirapan pa tayo ngunit hangga’t may paraan ay gagawan natin ng paraan para mapaaga at mapabilis ang pagbalik sa normal na schedule ng mga bata (We want to revert back to the old schedule because there is already a consensus that the old schedule is better. But in our opinion, we will have difficulty implementing it now but we will look for ways to hasten the early return to the normal schedule of the children),” Marcos said.
“We will seek clarification from the President in relation to his recent pronouncements regarding the reversion upon his return from the Trilateral Summit,” the DepEd said.
In a statement, the DepEd defended its stand for a gradual transition to the old school calendar, saying it was a product of “extensive consultation” with education stakeholders.
Aside from saying he is open to the reversion to the old school calendar, Marcos also said the government would exert all efforts to hasten the implementation of the old schedule.
The DepEd said the phased transition to the old schedule was not a hasty decision but the result of extensive consultations with field personnel, student leaders, parent organizations, and teacher organizations.
“The scheduled shift is a product of a consensus reached by various stakeholders,” it said, adding the original proposal was a 5-year period for the gradual reversion to the April-May break to ensure that learning outcomes and breaks would not be compromised.
“As a result of the mentioned consultations, however, the original timeline of five years was reduced to only two years. To reduce the timeline any further would have significant impacts not only on learning outcomes but also on the well-being of learners and teachers due to the lack of sufficient breaks,” it added.
Earlier, the Teachers Dignity Coalition and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers pressed the DepEd to revert to the old school calendar, saying this would not affect the vacation of teachers and students alike as claimed by Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte.
The DepEd said it is an “established policy” that schools may switch to Alternative Delivery Modes (ADM) in the event of man-made or natural disasters, including weather disturbances.
To date, it said 5,844 out of 47,678 public schools nationwide have switched to ADMs.
“The number clearly indicates that not all schools are similarly situated. Hence, giving school heads – who are in the best position to accurately assess the learning environment on the ground – the discretion to switch to ADMs provides a more immediate and effective response to heat conditions rather than knee-jerk changes that would further compromise learning recovery,” the DepEd said.
For the current school year — 2023-2024 — the DepEd set the end of the academic year earlier than scheduled–or on May 31, 2024–as part of the plan to gradually revert to the old school calendar with April and May as the summer vacation.
The school year 2024-2025 in public schools is set to start on July 29, 2024 and end on May 16, 2025.
NO BASIS
Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Chairperson Vladimer Quetua said the statement of Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte that an immediate reversion to the old school calendar is not feasible because it would affect the vacation of teachers and learners has no basis.
“It is definitely possible to immediately revert to the pre-pandemic school calendar. For the school year 2024-2025, if we open classes by July 29 of this year and end it by April 18, 2025, we will have a total of 175 school days,” Quetua said.
“For the school year 2025-2026, we can start classes by June 23, 2025 and end classes by March 31, 2026 and we will have 188 school days. Then for school year 2026-2027, we can start the classes by June 8, 2026 which is congruent with our old school calendar,” he added.
Quetua said ACT was among the groups that took part in the consultations conducted by DepEd early this year which resulted in the phased or gradual transition to the old school calendar.
He said the current situation where thousands of public schools nationwide have been forced to suspend in-person classes due to the extreme heat should prod the DepEd to reassess the matter.
“It is crucial to reassess the situation especially now that the heat index across the country is expected to hit ‘danger’ level, according to PAGASA. We have to admit that our school infrastructure is not climate crisis resilient, not to mention the severe shortages in classrooms, teachers, and education support personnel that exacerbate the conditions endured by teachers and students,” Quetua stressed.
“We also remind the DepEd that class suspensions and alternative learning modalities should not be its go-to solution for the intolerable summer heat and other education problems as the same modalities largely contributed to the current learning crisis,” he added.
Last Tuesday, the Teachers Dignity Coalition aired the same appeal to the DepEd.
Duterte had earlier said the DepEd cannot immediately revert to the old school calendar because it would compromise the end-of-school-year break or vacation of students and teachers.
Duterte added the gradual transition to the old school calendar has been agreed upon during the consultation undertaken by the DepEd with education stakeholders.
Last February the DepEd announced the gradual return to the old school calendar starting next school year.
Under the plan, school year 2024-2025 would start on July 29, and end on May 16, 2025.
The old school calendar will only return in the school year 2027-2028. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
