Is it time (again) for classes to start on June?

Smartphones aren’t the only one distracting the students from learning during the months of April and May. With daytime temperatures in some areas in the country reaching as high as 40°C, heat is oftentimes the main reason why classes are disrupted and eventually suspended in some schools.

For context, the past school years have limited learning to the learner’s individual houses as the COVID-19 pandemic took over the world, suspending face-to-face classes until recently. School year schedules were altered after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, which forced schools to suspend classes as early as March 2020.

Classes resumed around October 2020, with some schools opting to start distance learning by August of the same year. Since then, schools have adopted the August to May academic calendar.

The same situation is true for Leyte Progressive High School, Inc. (LPHS). With the onset of the pandemic in 2020, the school implemented full distance learning modality which prompted the school to open in September of the same year. The distance learning modality lasted for two school years, until S.Y. 2022-2023 permitted the school to slowly go back to full face-to-face classes.

However, unlike the academic calendars before the pandemic, S.Y. 2022-2023 didn’t start in June; it started in August— having still in effect the shift in academic calendar due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a March 2023 article of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, House Deputy Minority Leader and Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Rep. France Castro expressed that changing the academic calendar of schools was a result of “poor planning” and an attempt to keep up with global trends. Furthermore, Castro also reiterated the proposal for a change in the academic calendar during one of the sessions of the House of Representatives.

Castro already called the shift in the academic calendar as early as March 31 of this year due to the complaints received by ACT on the intolerable heat both the teachers and the students experience inside the classroom. The said volume of reports also coincided with the results of the online survey the party-list conducted on March that revealed 67% of the teachers who participated in the said survey complained on the unbearable heat.

It’s not only ACT that called on the attention of the Department of Education (DepEd) to investigate this issue. Other teacher organizations, such as the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDG), has also stressed the need to return to the old Juneto-March academic schedule, instating back the traditional April-to-May summer break.

House of Representatives. Focusing on bringing back the previous school calendar to tackle the toll it has taken on students and teachers rooted from classes being conducted in April and May, House Bill 8550 was filed by Makabayan lawmakers. As explained by the bill’s note, the Philippines had embraced a “school calendar ill-suited to its climate”, which resulted in “temperatures sweltering, blood pressures rising, and children and teachers fainting.” season here lasts.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, the chair of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, shared this sentiment when he urged DepEd and schools to reevaluate the restoration of the June-to-March academic schedule. This will allow for a “return to normalcy” after the epidemic prompted DepEd to move the school opening date to August and will allow pupils to spend the summer with their families rather than the having the academic break on a rainy season.

Additionally, a new bill proposing to revert the school calendar back to June to March has been filed at the

In response to these calls, DepEd official Michael Poa said that although there are currently no plans to change the academic calendar, they do have plans to study it. “School heads have the discretion to suspend in-person classes and switch to alternative delivery modes or blended learning if the environment is not conducive to learning,” Poa said. “(However), we will take note of the suggestions and study the matter.”

Taking these pieces of information in mind, it is only just that the school calendar be changed back. A tropical country like the Philippines is in no place to continue conducting classes up to June, given that March to May is how long “summer” or the dry

Nasaan ang ating sariling palakasan?

Pagkatapos ng halos tatlong taon, muling naibalik ang Mayor’s Cup Tournament na aktibong sinalihan ng iba’t ibang district schools. Ang pangyayaring ito ay nagbibigay oportunidad sa mga estudyanteng atheleta upang ipakita ang kanilang husay at galing sa kanya-kanyang isports. Layunin din nito na palakasin at palaguhin ang pagmamahal ng mga estudyanteng atleta sa kanilang napiling isport.

Subalit, hindi lahat ng sports ay nabibigyan ng pare-parehong oportunidad upang mapasama sa naturang kumpetisyon. Mapapansing ang mga kilalang sports lamang ang karaniwang presente sa mga ganitong kumpetisyon habang ang mga filipino sports tulad ng sungka, dumog, sikaran, at pale-sebo, ay hindi nabibigyan ng nararapat na pansin. Bagama’t nakikila ang Arnis sa ganitong kumpetisyon, hindi maipagkakailang mas mababa parin ang bilang ng mga filipino sports kesa sa mga non-traditional sports na makikita sa mga kumpetisyon.

Makikilalang Arnis ang pinakatanyag na isports na nagmula sa bansang Pilipinas. Ito rin ang karaniwang makikita na presente sa mga kumpetisyon. Itinituri itong pambansang laro ng Pilipinas kung kaya’t nagkakaroon ito ng sapat na atensyon at pagkakakilanlan. Nitong nakaraang 30th Southeast Asian labing-apat na gintong medalya ang nasungkit ng Pilipinas sa larong Arnis, hindi maipagkakailang ang mga manlalaro ng Arnis ang ilan sa may pinakamalaking kontribusyon sa pagiging kampeonato ng Pilipinas sa nagdaang 30th

Many citizens have been having a difficult time adjusting to the increasingly scorching weather caused by global warming. Heat strokes and fainting cases have come in more frequently as well. Such phenomena affects students, often sweltering while learning in their classrooms; leaving some classrooms at the mercy of air conditioners, which is important to note that not all schools have these. Parents of students send them to school not only with their kids’ education in mind, but with trust that the school keeps their children safe as they are learning. Therefore, for the safety of teachers and students alike, the school calendar to be reverted back to before the pandemic is a must.

With this matter still being reviewed and considered by DepEd, schools should craft standard measures on whether to continue or suspend the classes for a particular day given the current heat index. These procedures should be properly laid out to avoid miscommunications between the parents and the school. A storm isn’t the only kind of weather to look out for to postpone a school day.

Southeast Asian.

Samakatuwid, kung ang parehong atensyon ay maibibigay sa iba pang filipino sports malaki rin ang tyansa na mahasa at humusay ang mga iba’t ibang manlalarong Pilipino sa aspetong ito. Kung ang mga pampalakasang Pinoy na ito ay masasali sa ganitong kumpetisyon at mabibigyan ng sapat na pagkalinga at atensyon, mas makilala ang Pilipinas sa larangan ng isports at tiyak na maraming mga batang atleta ang maeenganyong subukan ito. Kung naipapamalas ng mga Pilipinong manlalaro ang husay sa iba’t ibang larangan ng isports walang duda rin na magtatagumpay sila sa pagganap ng sariling pagkakakilanlan. Nararapat lamang na mas mapagtuonan ng pansin ang mga larong tiyak na kayang ipanalo ng Pilipino.

Kung nakakayang bigyan ng atensyon ang ibang isports, bakit hindi rin bigyan ng parehong pagkilala ang sariling isports ng Pilipinas na hindi lamang makakatulong sa mga Pilipino ngunit magbibigay din ng karangalan sa bansa? Nararapat lamang na mabigyan ng pansin ang mga isports na magbibigay ng karagdagang lakas sa mga Pinoy para sa mas matugampay na pagangat sa bandera ng Pilipinas.