Amid calls for the Department of Education (DepEd) to implement early its planned reversion to the pre-pandemic school calendar, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte explained the rationale why reverting to June-March calendar cannot be implemented early.
“Hindi natin pwedeng o-compromise ang pahinga ng ating mga teachers at ng ating mga learners (We cannot compromise the rest of our teachers and learners),” Duterte said in a interview on the sidelines of the Youthpreneur (Mentoring Future Entrepreneurs)! event at the Rizal High School in Pasig City on Monday, April 8.
Duterte said this in response to calls coming from various quarters for DepEd to revert to the old school calendar amid the extreme heat experienced nationwide which prompted thousands of schools to suspend face-to-face classes and shift to alternative learning mode (ADM) last week.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2024/4/5/dep-ed-schools-affected-by-extreme-heat-now-up-to-5-288
Various groups have been urging DepEd to shift back to the pre-pandemic school calendar where classes start in June and would end in March. The students and teachers will then have a two-month “summer” break from April to May.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2024/4/4/dep-ed-urged-to-adopt-the-june-march-calendar-for-incoming-school-year
However, Duterte explained that doing so may compromise further the health of both teachers and students. “Hindi natin pwede dire-diretco ang nga klase. Kailangan ng pahinga, ng school break, sa mga paaralan (We cannot hold classes continuously. They need rest, we need a school break),” she added.
Transition to old school calendar
Duterte explained that the consultations regarding the reversion to the school calendar ending the school year in March have already concluded.
The consultations, she said, were conducted at the Central Office in Pasig City, and disseminated to the regions, stakeholders, and parents.
“Yun na ang inilatag doon sa mga consultations natin na susunod na taon, matatapos tayo with May then sa susunod matatapos tayo ng April then sa susunod na taon, balik na tayo June (In our consultations, it was laid out that we will finish [the school year] in May next, then the following year, we will finish in April, and the following year after that, we will revert to June),” she added.
RELATED STORY: