Pangilinan opposes September school opening

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Francis Pangilinan opposes the proposal to move the start of the school year to September from June.

He said two immediate downsides of the proposal are the strength of typhoons that enter the country during the months of September and October, and the extreme heat during the dry months of April and May.

“Go slow on changing the school calendar. As former chair of the education committee, this matter was brought to our attention in 2004. While the typhoon season causes a disruption of classes in June and July, data show that the strongest typhoons come in during September and October – the months wherein the change in start of the school calendar is being proposed,” Pangilinan said yesterday.              

He said excessive heat during the peak of summer could take its toll on the health of students.

“Our classrooms aren’t air-conditioned and in many cases are overcrowded. Can our young students bear the heat on a daily basis for two months or will this not affect their physical and mental health?” he said. “Typhoons happen two or three times in a month, thereby disrupting classes for several days, but the summer heat is a daily ordeal.”              

He said DepEd could consider testing the September school opening to assess its impact on students. During the hearing on the proposed 2012 budget of the DepEd the other day, Senators Franklin Drilon and Edgardo Angara directed Education Secretary Armin Luistro to consider moving the opening of school to September to reduce disruption of classes due to severe weather.

It was argued that the current school calendar covers the entire rainy season so classes are suspended a lot and in many cases, schools are used as evacuation centers whenever heavy flooding occurs.

Luistro said DepEd has been gathering data for the past 10 years to assess the effect of weather on the holding of classes.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said more tropical cyclones enter the country in September and October.

PAGASA supervising undersecretary Graciano Yumul said three to four cyclones usually enter the Philippine territory in September and two to three enter in October.

“The cyclones during these months normally make landfall,” he said.

Schools in the country open in June, which is also the start of the rainy season. – With Helen Flores