A group of education workers on Friday, April 12, maintained that fewer school days in April and May would be “more beneficial” to education.
“We stand by our proposal for the return of the school break to April and May as such would be more productive for education,” said Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Chairperson Vladimer Quetua.
Quetua pointed out that with thousands of schools nationwide that have shifted to Alternative Delivery Modes (ADM) within the first two weeks of April, the data “raises alarm on the impact of the escalating heat across the country, affecting student focus, impeding effective teaching and learning, and posing significant health risks to teachers and learners.”
Based on the latest data from DepEd, over 7,000 schools have suspended face-to-face classes and shifted to ADM due to intense heat.
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“While class suspensions, shortened class period, and switch to ADM only deprived learners more of precious face-to-face learning time than class suspensions in the months of July and August in the pre-pandemic school years,” Quetua pointed out.
Related to this, ACT urged the DepEd to “reassess” its calendar shift plan given “exacerbated conditions” in schools and proposed further consultations with teachers and other stakeholders to mitigate such issues in the next school years.
On April 10, DepEd reiterated that 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.
In response to the DepEd’s statement on the call for an immediate calendar shift, ACT explained that the proposal to end classes by April next year would result in 175 class days, a slight deviation from the current 179 school days.
ACT argued that the proposed changes in the timeline would “reduce the adverse impacts on learning outcomes and the well-being of learners and teachers in holding classes amid intense heat during the hottest months.”
“Under our proposal, for SY 2024-2025, if we open classes by July 29 of this year and end it by April 18, 2025, we will have a total of 175 school days,” Quetua added.
“For SY 2025-2026, we can start classes by June 23, 2025 and end classes by March 31, 2026 and we will have 188 school days. Then for SY 2026-2027, we can start the classes by June 8, 2026 which completes our reversion to the pre-pandemic calendar,” he said.
Moreover, the group reiterated the need for the Marcos-Duterte administration to take “decisive action” in resolving backlogs, addressing classroom shortages, and ensuring climate-resilient school infrastructure.
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