Marcos: Decision on push to revert to old academic calendar ‘very soon’
MANILA, Philippines — The government may decide “very soon” on whether or not to revert to the old academic calendar where school breaks run from April to May, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said Monday.
“I think this discussion will be decided on very soon,” Marcos said in Filipino in an interview on state-run Radyo Pilipinas, adding that the government is studying the proposal well.
He said among the considerations in discussions on returning to the old academic calendar were the COVID-19 situation in the country and changing weather patterns.
The Department of Education said early April that it will be forming a group to study the proposal to return to the old academic calendar to avoid holding classes in the scorching summer heat.
DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa, however, noted that previous proposals backing the opening of classes in August were based on reports that students struggled to go to school during the wet months from June to August.
The DepEd resisted synchronizing its calendar with the new academic calendar in higher education, but was forced to delay the opening of classes in 2020 from June to October as basic education transitioned to blended learning due to the pandemic.
Classes in basic education have started in August since then.
This school year is the first time that most public schools will hold full face-to-face classes during the summer months, giving the DepEd 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. — Xave Gregorio with a report from Cristina Chi
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