BY Jocelyn Montemayor and Ashzel Hachero
PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday said reverting to the old school calendar “will be better for the kids” and expressed hopes that it would finally be implemented by next year.
The President, in an ambush interview on the sidelines of the GOCCs Day, said he had asked Vice President and Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sara Duterte to submit a concrete plan on the return to the old school calendar, which usually starts in June and ends in March.
Marcos said he does not see any objections to the shift to the old calendar especially amid the current El Niño situation that has forced many schools to cancel face-to-face classes and shift to online and even asynchronous classes due to the extreme heat.
“So, it’s really needed. That’s part of the plan that we are trying to do, to bring it back to the old schedule. I think it will be better for the kids,” he said.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, classes were shifted to an August to May calendar.
The DepEd had earlier said the shift to the old calendar needed more time before being implemented as they could not just cut down on the school days or disrupt the school year.
The President said he is hoping the shift to the old school calendar would start by next year.
“Hopefully. Hopefully by next year, yes. By next year matatapos na,” Marcos said.
Teachers Dignity Coalition national chairperson Benjo Basas said the DepEd should comply now that Marcos has clearly expressed his desire to return to the old school calendar.
“Now that even the President has expressed his desire for a return to the old school calendar of June to March, the DepEd should immediately adjust the calendar of the next school year and it should end in March 2025 so that by school year 2025-2026, we will return to the June opening of classes,” Basas said.
The TDC and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers have repeatedly urged the DepEd to return to the old school calendar, citing the numerous suspensions of in-person classes due to the extreme heat and the health and safety risks the temperature poses to teachers and students.
DEPED COMMITTED
DepEd Assistant Secretary Francis Cesar Bringas said the department is committed to reverting to the old school calendar where classes start in June and end in March.
“In our letter to (the) OP (Office of the President) regarding DepEd’s proposal for reversion to June-March SY, we already stated that we commit to abide by the President’s decision on the matter. The same statement I made during the Senate hearing last April 30,” Bringas said when sought for comment on the President’s statement yesterday.
“The most aggressive option I mentioned in the hearing would be ending SY 2024-2025 on March 31, 2025,” Bringas said but added it could cut the school days to only 165 days instead of the usual 200.
FACE-TO-FACE CLASSES
The DepEd said the number of schools that suspended face-to-face classes amid the extreme heat across the country has slightly dipped to 7,372 from the previous 7,734.
There are 47,678 schools nationwide.
The latest DepEd data showed that Region 6 (Western Visayas) remained the region with the highest number of schools resorting to alternative distance learning with 1,740, followed by Region 5 (Bicol region) with 1,193, Central Luzon (978), Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) with 676, Region 7 (Central Visayas) with 482, and 467 in Region 4-B (Mimaropa).
Region 12 (Soccsksargen) reported 366 schools canceling in-person learning while Region 2 (Cagayan Valley) reported 341 schools.
Region 1 (Ilocos region) reported 287 schools resorting to alternative distance learning mode, 262 in the Cordillera Administrative Region, 257 in the National Capital Region, 122 in Calabarzon, 108 in Region 10 (Northern Mindanao), and 80 in Region 8 (Eastern Visayas).
The regions with the least number of schools suspending in-person learning were Region 11 (Davao region) with 12, and Region 13 (Caraga) with one.
Most suspensions started last month when the heat index started to climb.
