DepEd Advocates Reverting To Old School Calendar
DEPED – The Department of Education (DepEd) suggests that both teachers and students would benefit from reverting to the old school calendar.
The Department of Education (DepEd) emphasized on Wednesday that reducing the timeframe for returning to the previous school calendar would have a significant impact on the welfare of both students and educators.
This statement was made in response to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s recent announcement expressing the government’s interest in speeding up the return to the old school calendar schedule.
However, DepEd defended its previously announced timeline for gradually reintroducing the April-May break, stating that it was developed after extensive consultations with various stakeholders, including personnel, student leaders, parent organizations, and teacher associations.
DepEd stressed that further shortening the timeline would not only affect academic performance but also harm the physical and mental health of students and teachers due to insufficient breaks.
“To reduce the timeline any further would have significant impacts not only on learning outcomes but also on the well-being of learners and teachers due to the lack of sufficient breaks,” DepEd said in a statement.
Additionally, DepEd noted that the gradual transition has already been reduced from the initially proposed five years to a two-year plan.
Furthermore, DepEd revealed that 5,844 out of 47,678 public schools nationwide have already adopted alternative delivery modes (ADMs) of education in response to extreme heat conditions in certain regions. DepEd argued that this disparity among schools necessitates giving school administrators the discretion to promptly switch to ADMs to address heat-related issues instead of hastily implementing changes that could disrupt learning recovery efforts.
DepEd also stated its intention to seek clarification from Marcos regarding his recent announcement.
“Rest assured that DepEd is committed to improving the quality of basic education and will seek clarification from the President in relation to his recent pronouncements regarding the reversion upon his return from the Trilateral Summit,” DepEd said.
According to Department Order No. 003 S. of 2024, DepEd expects to conclude the academic year by April 2 for the school years 2026 to 2027, with the following school year (2027 to 2028) expected to end around March.
Prior to this, the academic year 2024 to 2025 is scheduled to start on Monday, July 29, and end on Friday, May 16, 2025.
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