DepEd announces June class opening

Secretary of Education Armin Luistro yesterday officially announced that the Department of Education (DepEd) “has made a decision” to retain the opening of elementary and high school classes in June this year, amid proposals to move it to later months.

In a press briefing, Luistro, who has repeatedly been asked about the stand of the Department of Education (DepEd) on proposals to move the school opening to July, August, or September, said that while a study is now being conducted by an inter-agency panel led by the Commission on Higher (CHED), “nakapag-desisyon na kami na ang opening ng school year ngayong taon para sa elementary at high school ay mananatiling June.”

Luistro said that the decision was made to ease the concerns of parents over the school opening this coming school year. “Hindi na namin pinag-usapan. Nag-desisyon na kami para di magulo,” he said.

The opening of classes in public elementary and high schools nationwide for 2014-2015, Luistro said, will be on the “first Monday of June” or June 2.

Luistro said talks on moving the academic calendar for basic education will resume after the higher education institutions (HEIs) have arrived at a consensus. To date, only three higher education institutions (HEIs) — the University of the Philippines (UP) system except Diliman, Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), and the University of Santo Tomas (UST) have announced shifts in their respective academic calendars. The UP System except Diliman will implement an August-May academic calendar starting this year while ADMU will implement an August-May academic calendar starting in 2015. The UST will start its school year in July this year..

“Hahayaan muna namin ang tertiary level na magkaroon ng consensus bago ang DepEd (basic education). Kasi ang unang makikinabang o maaapektuhan ng paglipat ng school opening ay ang mga nasa kolehiyo,” Luistro said.

Meanwhile, a group of public school teachers expressed opposition to the change in school calendar.

The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC), a 30,000-strong group headed by TDC National Chairman Benjo Basas, said, “The weather argument of the proponents has proven to be immaterial amidst the drastic changes in world climate that made the weather unpredictable.” It urged that “our own school system–from basic to tertiary– integrate first before joining the ASEAN integration.”

Moving the academic calendar opening to months later than June has long been proposed to spare the students from flooding caused by typhoons during the rainy season. Recently, the primary reason given for seeking the change is to synchronize the Philippine system with those of neighboring countries in time for ASEAN Economic Integration in 2015.

The DepEd has said that while it remains open to the suggestion to move the academic calendar, it finds “no compelling reason to do so,” especially with the ever-changing weather patterns in the country.