Following widespread class suspensions due to typhoons and the intensified southwest monsoon (habagat), a teachers’ group urged the Department of Education (DepEd) on Thursday, July 24, to utilize buffer days before calling for immediate makeup classes.

Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Chairperson Vladimer Quetua, in a statement, stressed that it is premature to push for Saturday or alternative class arrangements, noting that the current academic calendar already includes built-in buffer or contingency days to address disruptions caused by natural calamities.

“The school calendar includes contingency days precisely for emergencies like these,” Quetua said. “This is still unnecessary,” he added.

While acknowledging the risk of learning loss, the group emphasized that student and teacher well-being—along with community recovery—should take precedence over hastily organized catch-up classes.

Beyond the education sector, ACT also called on the national government to intensify its support for calamity-stricken communities.

“Higit pang pabilisin at pag-ibayuhin ng pamahalaan ang recovery programs nito upang tugunan ang mga pinsala sa kabuhayan, ng mga tahanan, at ng pisikal at mental na kalagayan ng mga bata at magulang dulot ng kalamidad (The government must accelerate and strengthen its recovery programs to address the damage to livelihoods, homes, and the physical and mental well-being of children and parents caused by calamities),” Quetua said.

“Higit pa, hindi na lamang dapat ito usapin kung paano makakabangon, kundi paano maiiwasan ang malalang pananalanta ng mga kalamidad na malinaw na bunsod ng anti-mamamayan at mapanirang mga patakaran at proyekto ng gobyerno (More than that, it shouldn’t just be a question of how to recover—but of how to prevent the worsening impact of disasters that clearly stem from anti-people and destructive government policies and projects),” he added.

The group also challenged the administration to address the underlying causes of recurring flooding that continue to displace families and disrupt education, warning that these are symptoms of deeper policy failures.

ACT reaffirmed that class suspensions are necessary safety measures but warned that unless the government addresses systemic issues such as environmental degradation and poor urban planning, education continuity will remain at risk year after year.

“We need long-term solutions to the climate crisis—not just temporary academic adjustments whenever disaster strikes,” Quetua said.