By: Gonzales, Kiersten
Due to strong demand for a faster return to the old calendar, the Department of Education
(DepEd) admitted that they have sent a letter to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., considering a more “aggressive” reversion to the old academic calendar for school year 2024-2025.
If approved, students will undergo shorter school days and a reduced school break during the transition period, with only 165 in-person school days planned for the upcoming academic year under the proposed change, in accordance with Republic Act 7797 which typically requires 200 to 220 school days in the Philippines, while the rest will be conducted through distance learning.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate basic education committee, advocates for an “aggressive” approach, emphasizing the necessity of reverting to the old academic calendar due to the unpredictable weather conditions “We already need to revert to the old calendar so that no matter what happens, we are already avoiding extreme heat conditions,” he added.
While the opening of classes was moved to October in 2022 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, transitioning to distance learning, and later shifted back to August in the following years, the recent reversion to the previous academic calendar was driven by public demand, with people emphasizing that the summer months were not suitable for effective learning, especially considering recent suspensions of in-person classes due to extreme heat.
Furthermore, the suspension of classes continues due to the intense heatwave and power
outages that have affected several regions, prompting local government units to declare heatwave
alerts and impose rotating brownouts to conserve energy.
