The House of Representatives supports the return of the old academic calendar as the Department of Education announced the cancellation of face-to-face classes in 7,734 out of 47,678 schools due to extreme heat.
The list of affected schools includes Western Visayas with 1,613; Central Luzon with 1,254; Bicol with 1,181; Zamboanga with 666. About 252 schools were affected In the National Capital Region.
The suspension came in the heels of PAGASA’s announcement that 39 areas will experience dangerous heat levels on Thursday.
PAGASA also warned that muscle cramps and heat exhaustion can strike within a heat index of 42 to 51 degrees Celsius, with the possibility of heat stroke under prolonged exposure.
As for the return to the previous academic calendar, Bagong Pilipinas briefing, Pasig City Rep. and House Committee on Basic Education and Culture Chairperson Roman Romulo said Congress agrees to return to the previous schedule because the “continuity of learning” is affected.
The lawmaker added he is hopeful the government would implement the proposed changes, citing the recent discussion with the Department of Education (DepEd) earlier this week.
“So last Monday, we called DepEd to find out if there are any new developments. When they arrived, they said they submitted some alternatives to Malacañang, including the proposal to shorten the return to the old academic calendar,” Romulo said in a mix of English and Filipino.
In their dialogue with DepEd, Romulo said the new proposal would set academic year 2024-2025 as the last school year before returning to its previous schedule.
DepEd recently said it submitted a proposal to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to revert to the previous academic calendar. This would mean classes will return to June until March, with the students’ vacation taking place during April and May.
Meanwhile, the Department of Education said class schedules can be moved by regional directors and superintendents to early morning or late afternoon in order to avoid the consequences of extreme heat.