DepEd studying proposal to revert to old acad calendar

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education said Tuesday that it will form a group to study the proposal to return to the old academic calendar where school breaks run from April to May.

In an ambush interview, DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa said the department has taken into consideration suggestions to return to the old calendar to avoid holding classes in the summer heat.

Poa said, however, that previous proposals supporting the August class opening were based on reports of students struggling to go to school during the typhoon season from June to August.

“DepEd will form a group to study this so that once we give a decision, we have a proper basis for it,” Poa said in Filipino.

For years, DepEd resisted to synchronize its calendar with the new academic calendar in higher education, which the Commission on Higher Education recommended for state universities in 2019 to cover the same period as the government’s fiscal year.

However, DepEd had to delay its class opening in 2020 from June to October when it transitioned to blended learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, it has scheduled class openings in August.

This school year is the first time that most public schools will hold full face-to-face classes during the summer months, giving the agency a test case on whether its students and personnel can cope with a hotter classroom environment.

Poa said in a previous statement that schools have the option to implement blended learning if classroom conditions are no longer conducive to the environment.

DepEd opened classes in 2022 during the last week of August. The school year will end in the first week of July.

A survey of around 11,000 teachers conducted in the last week of March found that at least 67% of public school teachers experienced "intolerable" heat inside the classroom, distracting students and affecting their attendance.