MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has approved the recommendation of the Department of Education (DepEd) to revert to old school calendar.
The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said the opening of classes for school year 2024-2025 will begin on July 29 this year and end on April 15, 2025.
“This will start the gradual return of the school year to June of every year until end of March the next year,” according to a statement released by PCO on Wednesday.
The return to old school calendar was reached during a meeting between President Marcos and Vice President and Education secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio on Tuesday.
During the said meeting, according to the PCO, two options for the implementation of School Year (SY) 2024-2025 calendar were discussed in light of the shift to the old June to March school calendar.
The first option comprised of 180 school days with 15 in-person Saturday classes while the second option was to have 165 school days with no in-person Saturday classes.
President Marcos, however, said the 165-day school calendar is “too short” as such arrangement will significantly reduce the number of school days and contact time that may compromise learning outcomes.
The Chief Executive also did not want students to be going to school on Saturdays to complete the 180-day school calendar because it will jeopardize their well-being and demand more resources.
As a compromise, Marcos said DepEd should adjust the school year to end on April 15, 2025, instead of March 31, 2025, to enable students to complete 180 days without using Saturdays to go to school.
“Habaan lang natin ‘yung school days. Para matagal, dagdagan na lang natin ‘yung school days basta huwag natin gagalawin ‘yung Saturday. So, school day will remain the same. Standard lang,” Marcos told Duterte-Carpio during the meeting.
The DepEd earlier said that they are planning for the gradual return to the old school calendar, but this could not be rushed as teachers and learner also need to rest./PN
