After witnessing the challenges of conducting face-to-face classes in April, marked by extreme heat and frequent class suspensions, a teachers’ group reiterated the urgent need to revert to the pre-pandemic school calendar.
“We believe it is now necessary to expedite the return to the June-March cycle so that we do not face the same consequences in 2025 as we did in 2023 and are currently enduring,” said Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) in a statement on Tuesday, April 9.
TDC issued the statement in response to Vice President and Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sara Duterte, who stated that schools cannot immediately revert to the old school calendar because doing so would “compromise” the end-of-school-year break or vacation of teachers and students.
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Creative, decisive solutions
“For us, what we need is to shorten the school calendar—the only sacrifice we need to make without compromising the school break,” TDC said.
The group pointed out that the adjusted school calendar for School Year (SY) 2023-2024 only consists of 179 days—from August 29, 2023, to May 31, 2024.
Referring to DepEd’s adjustment, TDC stated that the 4th quarter only began on April 1 and will end on May 31, which will be “further reduced” by several end-of-school-year activities and the suspension of face-to-face classes.
“Theoretically, two full months per quarter will be possible with some adjustments to the learning competencies,” TDC explained.
Given this, the group suggested that DepEd can expedite the return to the June to March cycle, with SY 2024–2025 serving as the transition period.
“It should end on April 11, 2025, earlier than DepEd's plan of May 16, 2025,” TDC said.
This, the group noted, will ensure that only two weeks of April are utilized for classes, avoiding the entire month of May.
“By our calculations, this would be around 170 days, not far from the 179 days of this year (SY 2023–2024),” TDC explained. “And if there will be any shortfall, solutions like having 10 asynchronous Saturday classes (emphasizing the meaning of asynchronous to everyone) can be implemented to meet the traditional 180 days required by DepEd in the past,” it added.
For TDC, this is the “most effective way” to promptly respond to this crisis.
“Definitely, there is no need to compromise teachers' and students' vacations, and no one has to endure the intense heat in April and May," TDC said. "Above all, we can maximize face-to-face classes without frequent delays,” it added.
Meanwhile, members of TDC expressed willingness to engage in dialogue with Duterte and the DepEd management to discuss this proposal. “In this critical time, we need creative and decisive solutions,” the group said.
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https://mb.com.ph/2024/4/4/dep-ed-urged-to-adopt-the-june-march-calendar-for-incoming-school-year