MANILA – Revising the school calendar that would change the opening of classes from June to September poses a problem for the country's basic education system, according to a Department of Education (DepEd) official.
DepEd Assistant Secretary for Planning Jesus Mateo said that while the department is open to the said proposal, which is in line with the ASEAN integration in 2015, they are still studying factors that might affect elementary and high school students.
Mateo said the most important factor the DepEd is considering is the temperature which can be extremely hot during the summer season. Some schools in elementary and high school don't have enough money to add electric fans or air conditioner.
He said in 1965, an attempt to move elementary and high school classes to September was junked because of such factors.
Mateo added that ASEAN integration is meant for the colleges and universities that are under the supervision of the Commission on the Higher Education (CHED).
However, Mateo clarified that not all colleges and universities can just revise their school calendar as only those considered autonomous, like the University of the Philippines (UP), can do so.
Adamson University will begin the next school year this August, with other Philippine colleges and universities expected to follow suit in moving their academic calendar by 2015, in order to align them with foreign counterparts.
University of Santo Tomas's next school year will begin this July as part of a gradual shift to a later start of the calendar year, but this change has not been confirmed by UST’s administration.
Most universities in the world begin the school year in August, September, or October, while the Philippines has stuck to its June-March calendar.
With ASEAN integration in 2015 creating new opportunities to internationalize their campuses and the K-12 education system severely affecting college enrollment in 2016, Philippine institutions are feeling the pressure to shift their academic calendars.
Father Gregorio Bañaga, president of Adamson University, said his school is almost sure of implementing the change this year, to make it easier for students to enroll from overseas institutions.
Citing the 22 nationalities represented at his university, Bañaga said, “Many of our foreign students could only enroll in the second semester after graduating overseas because it’s too late for the first semester.”
He added that Adamson will have two summer school sessions this year – April-May and June-July – otherwise, teachers will not have enough teaching loads with the March end of classes and the new start of the first semester in August.
“What will happen to teachers’ salaries?” Bañaga said, referring to the four-month gap between semesters this year.
He said that the change still has to be approved by Adamson’s academic council, which will likely support the move.
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