President Bongbong Marcos has asked the Department of Education to speed up the return to the old school calendar by 2025.
The proposal was due to the number class cancellations due to dangerous heat levels triggered by El Nino in the Philippines.
“Hiningi ko ‘yan sa DepEd and I asked Inday Sara to give me already a concerted plan because mukha naman hindi na tayo kailangan mag-antay pa at mukha namang kailangan na. I don’t see any objections really from anyone especially with the El Niño being what it is,” said Marcos in an interview with reporters.
Marcos said that it will be better if the old school calendar will be followed immediately.
“Everyday, you turn on the news face-to-face classes are canceled, face-to-face classes have been postponed etc. So talagang kailangan na kailangan na. So yes, that’s part of the plan that we’re trying to do to bring it back to the old schedule. I think it would be better for the kids,” he added.
Marcos hopes that the change in school calendar can be next year.
DepEd Assistant Secretary Francis Bringas said that for this to work, there will be an extended school work.
“We are looking at 165 days full in person if we do it aggressively…It will have an implication on the school break for teachers because we all know that teachers to a proportional vacation pay (PVP) that is 2 months after each school year, and the PVP is computed based on the number of school days in a given school year, so there has to be a compromise there,” Bringas said.
