EDITORIAL - If it ain't broke, don't fix it

There is a proposal to move the opening of classes from June to September. Actually the proposal is not new. But it has gained more than the usual passing notice these days owing to the seeming interest exhibited by Education Secretary Jesli Lapus.

The interest of Lapus appears to be anchored on recent events that led to the suspension of classes in many schools all over the country, almost right after classes opened in June.

Those recent events were the unusually harsh weather disturbances that swung in at about the same time school gates opened, as well as the unforeseen swine flu pandemic that brought many schools to its knees.

But if these two events are the only basis for the proposed change in school schedules, then maybe Lapus should not get too carried away by the circumstances, lest this whole affair gets likened to that mountain who labored to bring forth a mouse.

First the weather. If weather disturbances had been harsh at the time of the June school opening, there is no indication that June had anything to do with them. They were harsh because storms always are. Besides, the climate is changing, not for better but for worse.

With that in mind, there is no saying the weather will be better in September than in June. On the other hand, while June may usher in the rainy season, it is actually in September when things really get wet. And storms come more often in the "ber" months than at any time.

As to the pandemic, there is no indication that it prefers to hit the Philippines in June and not in September. Diseases descend on humans with neither schedule nor forewarning. There is no divining these things within the measure of particular months.

We are not against moving the school opening to September, provided there is a truly compelling and justifiable reason to do so. But if the only reason is the weather and the pandemic, then let us not burn the house down to get rid of a rat.

Opening the schoolyear in June has not been without its hassles. But these are problems that cannot be solved by moving the opening to September. These are problems that just happen to hound any school opening regardless of the month the opening takes place.