DepEd writes letter to Marcos Jr. in push to revert to old academic calendar for SY 2024-2025
The Department of Education (DepEd) has sent a letter to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recommending to end school year 2024-2025 in March 2025.
The agency has been eyeing for schools to return to the old academic calendar. In February, the start of the upcoming school year was moved to July with it ending in May of the next year. This latest move, however, seeks to make school break earlier.
"In response to the recent clamor for a more immediate reversion to the April to May school break, the department has already submitted a letter to the Office of the President presenting other options, including a more aggressive alternative ending school year 2024 to 2025 in March 2025," DepEd Assistant Secretary Francis Bringas said in a Senate committee on basic education hearing.
"In the meantime, we respectfully appeal to the committee to allow the President time to study the options carefully."
DepEd planned to make the shift back to the June-March school calendar gradual, with it taking three years to fully transition.
Bringas added that should the school year end in March 2025, the in-person school days would be decreased to 165 with the remaining other days done via alternative delivery models.
According to Republic Act No. 11480, the school calendar should have 200 to 220 class days.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said that the "aggressive approach" should be taken as the weather is "hard to predict."
"Because we cannot predict things eh. Next year, it can be La Niña, it can be El Niño again. It's very difficult. Weather, it's like that eh, it's hard to predict. But what's certain is we need to revert back already to the old calendar," he said.
The Philippines is being scorched by extreme heat, with schools suspending classes as heat indexes reach "danger" levels. On April 24, nearly 6,700 schools suspended in-person classes, according to DepEd.