Article by Arabella Balderama

A new bill aiming to bring back the conventional June to March school calendar was filed at the House of Representatives on Monday, June 19, 2023.

Kabataan Party-list Representative Raoul Manuel, Gabriela Party-list Representative Arlene Brosas, and Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Party-list Representative France Castro were the leading proponents of the legislation.

The three Makabayan lawmakers filed House Bill (HB) 8550, proposing to revert the academic calendar to its traditional scheduling prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. 

The bill sought to address the detrimental effects of the current school calendar on students and teachers, such as extreme weather conditions, caused by classes in April to May. 

It also intended to amend Republic Act No. 7797, which authorized the President to set a different date to begin the school year in the event of a state of emergency or calamity.

According to the HB’s explanatory note, the school year would open on the first Monday of June but not later than the last day of August, “with a particular provision for a June opening for the school year 2024 to 2025 which will ensure the urgent return to the pre-pandemic school calendar.”

Additionally, the HB promoted the “early” closing of school year 2023-2024 on the fourth week of May 2024 and an appropriate number of leave service credits to teachers.

With these conditions in place, the 180 days of  “non-negotiable contact time” established by the Department of Education (DepEd) would be shortened and teachers would be given “at least a week of rest in between the two school years.”

Why pass the bill?

ACT Chair Vladimer Quetua called the measure “a big deal for us teachers because we don’t want to repeat the intense heat we endured this school year.”

House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro then stated that the August to May calendar negatively affected students and teachers.

“The August to May school calendar has proven to be detrimental to the education sector, with students and teachers struggling with prolonged and intensified exposure to heat during the summer months. This has resulted in decreased productivity, poor student performance, and even health problems,” she said.

Castro added that returning to a June-March school year would benefit farmers by “allowing students to participate in planting and harvesting activities during the appropriate season.”

Due to the heat caused by the past summer, DepEd permitted schools to cancel in-person classes and substitute it with blended learning.

Thumbnail from The Philippine Daily Inquirer