MANILA — Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Monday said the reversion to the old school calendar cannot be expedited, as recommended by the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC).

“Hindi natin puwede i-compromise ang pahinga ng ating mga teacher at ng ating learners dahil hindi natin pwede idire-diretso ang mga klase,” Duterte told reporters after the ‘Youthpreneur’ event at the Rizal High School in Pasig City.

(We cannot compromise the rest of our teachers and learners because we cannot hold classes without any break.)

READ: Suspension of face-to-face classes due to extreme heat allowed: DepEd

DepEd earlier released a department order for the gradual shift to the old calendar wherein classes begin in June and ends in March.

The current school year will end on May 31, 2024, while the break is scheduled from June 1 to July 26.

Succeeding school years have been adjusted as well so that by academic year 2026-2027, classes will be back to the June-March schedule.

“Ito ay resulta ng consultation natin, collective decision na ito based on our consultations, iyong reversion to the school calendar,” she said.

(This is the result of our consultation, this is a collective decision based on our consultations.)

TDC’s chairperson Benjo Basas earlier urged DepEd to immediately shift to the old school calendar so that by next academic year, there would be no more classes in April and May when extreme heat could affect the conduct of in-person classes.

Prolonging the transition period would only burden the children with the changes in the mode of teaching, he said.

He added that teachers were willing to adjust to a shortened school break, given that they would be properly compensated.

NO MAKE UP CLASSES.

Meanwhile, Duterte said that conduct of makeup classes is no longer necessary following the series of suspension of in-person classes by many schools last week.

READ: DepEd announces asynchronous classes for April 8

“Ang sinuspend lang naman natin ay in-person classes pero ang pag-aaral nila tuloy iyon sa alternative delivery modes tulad ng online or modular,” she said.

(We only suspended in-person classes, but their lessons continued with alternative delivery modes like online or modular.)

On Friday, some 3 million learners from 14 regions were affected by suspension of in-person classes by schools in areas that experienced extreme heat.

A report from the Department of Education (DepEd) showed that 5,288 schools shifted to alternative delivery modes such as online classes and modular learning. 

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