The Department of Education (DepEd) has set Aug. 23 as the tentative date for the opening of School Year (SY) 2021-2022 amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation in the country.

DepEd Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction Diosdado San Antonio confirmed this on Tuesday, April 27. What has been discussed so far, he noted, is that the current school year will end in July. If there will be no further changes, he said that the new school year might open on Aug. 23.

However, San Antonio said that there is also a possibility that there will be changes in the schedule. This, he added, is "final only once DepEd Order is issued."

“Since wala di pa signed ang DepEd Order hindi ko pa sya masasabing final as of today iyan ang na-approve (Since there is no - or the DepEd Order is not yet signed, I cannot say that this is final as of today, that has been approved),” he explained.

Meanwhile, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines cautioned DepEd on its plan to open the new school year in August.

“While education continuity remains our top priority, DepEd must also give due consideration to the well-being of both teachers and students,” ACT said in a statement issued on April 27.

“Pushing our teachers beyond their limits could prove to be counterproductive to achieving our goals as it can lead to the undoing of the very backbone of education continuity,” the group added.

Given this, ACT urged the DepEd “to lay down how it plans to uphold and protect the welfare of our education frontliners along with its school opening plans.” The group said that that extension of the current school year is already requiring teachers to render 77 working days of overtime - without a single day of leave benefit.

“DepEd has yet to provide answers on how it plans to grant teachers their rightful leave benefits and overtime pay, and it's already presenting another problem—the reduction of teachers proportional vacation pay from 80 days-worth to only 59 (including the 16-day Christmas break), if the August 23 class opening pushes through,” ACT said.

Citing the result of its own survey conducted in April, ACT said that “majority of our teachers have expressed that the burdensome work under distance learning already has negative impacts on their physical and mental health but they still strive to perform their duties.”

ACT added that what is more alarming is how about 10 percent of teacher-respondents admitted that they are “already getting ill due to heavy workload.”

Given this, the group surmised that the “the health of our students is no different.” Before finalizing the school opening date, ACT urged DepEd to address concerns of teachers related to their compensation and other benefits.

ACT is also calling on the government to lay down a “comprehensive response” that would ensured that the conduct of the new school year will not be “injurious to already beaten down teachers, support personnel, and students alike.”