By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
A local teachers group has also joined calls of the education sector to revert to the old academic calendar and to bring back the school break in April and May.
Richard Gelangre, Bacolod City Public School Teachers Federation President, said the current school year caused not only the students to complain over the uncomfortable summer heat, but also the teaching staff.
He said the students are unable to concentrate well on their studies.
Gelangre said, based on their survey, the majority of the students and teachers have agreed that the semestral break should be during the summer season.
He pointed out that holding the vacation period in the months of April and May would offer greater efficiency.
The teaching staff and students will be refreshed when classes resume in June, he added.
Earlier this month, students from various schools in Negros Occidental complained of excess heat brought by the dry weather conditions inside classrooms.
The call for a return to the previous school break stemmed from a heat exhaustion incident in Laguna province’s Calamba City last month where several students were hospitalized during a fire drill.
Meanwhile, Department of Education (DepEd) Negros Occidental spokesperson, Ian Arnold Arnaiz admitted that school rooms in the province lack additional electric fans that would help cool students down.
According to Arnaiz, at least two additional electric fans are needed for 45 students in a standard classroom.
He is hoping that consideration will be given to their request from various sectors to return the old school calendar in the Philippines, but the decision would be up to DepEd national office.
Based on the DepEd’s guidelines, the school year has been extended for another week with the graduation ceremonies to be held from July 10 to 14 of this year.
Earlier, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson was in favor of a proposal by the Senate for returning to the old academic calendar.
However, Lacson said the current school calendar needs a rethinking.
“If we follow the current academic calendar, the school break is during the rainy season. Students cannot really go out and relax,” Lacson said earlier.
He said the months of April to May are the only suitable time for students to unwind from school tasks.
The dry season’s scorching heat is not conducive for learning, Lacson said.
The high heat index could affect learning performance and even the students’ health, he stressed.
During the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte, the DepEd adjusted the country’s school calendar to keep pace with the international educational system.
The DepEd adopted the current August-to-July academic calendar during the onset of COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020.
With the end of the pandemic already in sight, the Senate said it is also time for the country’s academic calendar to return to its previous schedules.
Education spokesperson Michael Poa said the DepEd will look into the matter.
He initially said DepEd had “no plans” to revert to the old academic calendar./DGB, WDJ