Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 19) — A measure has been filed at the House of Representatives seeking to revert to the traditional June-March school year calendar as stakeholders struggle to hold classes during the scorching summer season.
In House Bill 8550, ACT Teachers Partylist representative France Castro, Gabriela Partylist representative Arlene Brosas, and Kabataan Partylist representative Raoul Manuel said the current school calendar is ill-suited to the country’s climate.
Since 2021, the Department of Education (DepEd) set the beginning of classes in August or September following a late October opening in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This has pushed back the break between school years from the typical March-June to June-August or July-September.
“The intolerable heat in cramped classrooms have led to a worrisome drop in attendance and for those who persevere in staying in class, had a hard time concentrating and understanding lessons,” the measure filed on Monday reads.
Over this past summer, the DepEd allowed schools to suspend in-person classes and carry out blended learning instead due to the hot weather.
RELATED: Lawmaker wants faster return to old school calendar amid hot weather
The newly-filed bill proposes an early close for school year 2023-2024 in May to allow classes to start by June in school year 2024-2025.This would mean teachers and students will only have a one week break between school years.The bill states teachers should be granted service credits for their work during lost vacation time.The DepEd is currently studying other proposals to revert to the old school calendar.
