Government working to revert to old school calendar – Marcos

MANILA, Philippines — The government is working to revert to the old school calendar from June to March as the scorching summer heat, aggravated by the El Niño phenomenon, is causing class disruptions in several areas across the country, President Marcos yesterday.

“As much as possible we want to return to the old schedule because we already have a consensus on that,” Marcos told journalists in a media interview in San Juan City.

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte earlier said the Department of Education (DepEd) could not rush the return to the old school calendar.

“We’re not saying we’re not doing it before next year or the year after that... We will make a way to speed up the return to the normal schedule of the children,” Marcos said.

Following this development, the DepEd yesterday said it would seek clarification from Marcos regarding his pronouncements that his administration is open to immediately reverting back to the old school calendar to avoid harsh classroom conditions amid extreme heat during summer.

“Rest assured that the DepEd is committed to improving the quality of basic education and 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.

Stressing that the current phased transition to the pre-pandemic school calendar went through consultations, discussions and agreement with stakeholders, the education department defended its policy on onsite class suspensions.

“The gradual shift of the school calendar, as provided under DepEd Order No. 3, was the result of extensive consultations held with field personnel, student leaders, parent organizations and teacher organizations. The scheduled shift is a product of a consensus reached by various stakeholders,” the agency said.

It explained that onsite class suspensions were part of an “established policy” that allows schools to switch to alternative delivery mode (ADM) should the classroom situation become unbearable.

While the DepEd did not clarify whether the suspension mechanism was part of the phased return to the old school calendar, it said, “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.”

“To date, 5,844 out of 47,678 public schools nationwide have switched to ADMs. The number clearly indicates that not all schools are similarly situated,” it added.

The DepEd is currently implementing measures to revert to the old school calendar, but the transition – when classes would open in June – would only fully take hold in 2026 or three school years from now.

Since Monday last week, onsite classes in thousands of public schools nationwide have been suspended due to extreme heat experienced by students and teachers in classrooms.

Last Friday, the number of schools that suspended online classes has climbed to 5,288, with over 3.6 million public school students affected.

The DepEd had since instructed schools to implement ADMs should the harsh heat render classroom instruction unbearable for students and teachers. — Ramon Efren Lazaro, Mayen Jaymalin, Ghio Ong, Romina Cabrera