The government is looking at ways to revert to the old school calendar “as soon as possible,” to adjust to high temperatures affecting classes across the nation, President Ferdinand Marcos. Jr. on Wednesday said.
“It was the climate change. We did not anticipate that extreme heat would be felt much sooner than usual. This is why we need to adjust,” the President said, adding that the government is finding ways on how to speed up the transition period.
“There’s already a consensus that the old schedule is better. As long as there is a way, we will make a way to hasten the return to the normal schedule,” the President, in an ABS-CBN News report said.
Earlier, the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition said that the shift could be done more quickly by making the 2024-2025 academic year a transition period with slightly fewer class days.
Vice President Sara Duterte, concurrently education secretary, earlier said that the Department of Education cannot “rush” the return to the old school calendar.
The University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) meanwhile recommended to its faculty members to shift to remote and or asynchronous classes during extreme heat conditions.
The state weather bureau on Monday warned of rising heat indexes reaching “danger levels” across the country amid the El Nino phenomenon as the Department of Education allowed the use of alternative delivery modes (ADMs) for teaching in areas that declared suspension of face-to-face classes, mostly in the Visayas region.
The DepEd will also allow teachers to wear comfortable clothes instead of uniforms during in-person classes “subject to dress codes,” Assistant Secretary Francis Bringas told reporters in a Viber message.
“Yes that is the logical thing to do,” Bringas added, noting that public-school students are already allowed to wear comfortable clothes since there is no prescribed uniform for them.
About 246 public schools in Western Visayas shifted to alternative delivery modes on Monday following the suspension of in-person classes over the extreme heat.
It was the same for students in Libon, Albay, who were told not to wear school uniforms after an advisory issued by the Office of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council under Mayor Wilfredo V. Maronilla.
“Amid the increasing heat index (with Albay’s heat index reaching to 36 to 41℃, equivalent to extreme caution) it is advisable for the students and pupils to wear comfortable and presentable clothing (cotton shirts) going to school,” the mayor’s office said.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration, in its two-day forecast, said Aparri in Cagayan Valley and Catarman in Northern Samar hit 43 degrees Celsius on the heat index on Monday.
The heat index also reached 42℃ at Pili, Camarines Sur and Zamboanga City.
Other areas forecast to experience 41℃ on the heat index were Dagupan City, Pangasinan; Puerto Princesa City and Aborlan in Palawan; Roxas City in Capiz; Iloilo City and Dumangas in Iloilo; La Granja, La Carlota in Negros Occidental; Tacloban City in Leyte; and Butuan City in Agusan del Norte.