By Arabella Balderama

The Department of Education (DepEd) issued a memorandum on Saturday, April 22, reiterating that school heads are permitted to suspend in-person classes and switch to alternative delivery modes (ADMs), such as modular distance learning, in the event of unfavorable weather conditions like extreme heat, to protect the health of students and staff.

With this, DepEd Spokesperson Michael Poa explained that the circumstances vary depending on the institution and that school heads have “direct knowledge of the day-to-day situation in their schools”; thus, allowing them to make decisions regarding class cancellations and learning modality adjustments.

“Ayaw rin po nating makaapekto sa kalusugan ng ating mga learners ang napakainit na panahon, kaya po pinaalalahan natin ang mga school heads na maaari silang mag-switch agad sa ADMs,” Poa said in a statement.

Schools have also been permitted to carry out modular distance learning in accordance with DepEd order no.37 s. of 2022, following the memorandum issued by DepEd Assistant Secretary for Operations Francis Cesar Bringas on April 20. 

The department also stated that they had no plans on reverting back to the old school calendar, following Senator Sherwin Gatchalian’s proposal of an April-May summer break of students due to extreme weather conditions.

Reverting back to the old school calendar

In light of the recent high temperatures recorded, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) suggested that the government should begin to consider reverting to the old school calendar, citing that public schools are not yet fully equipped to handle the extreme dry season.

With regard to this, ACT Secretary-General Raymond Basilio said that the hot weather, which could continue until the following month, should motivate DepEd to return to the old schedule, where classes start in June.

Basilio added that ACT wrote a request to DepEd to bring back the previous school calendar and prevent holding classes during the dry season, as they deem it to be “not conducive” in the Philippines’ context due to a lack of facilities.

He further argued that delegating school heads to decide on class suspensions was merely a “temporary solution” to the issue.

Thumbnail from The Philippine Star