Shorter school year sought to allow return to old school calendar

[Mike J]

The Philippines has the lowest academic scores of any Asian nation.  So let's improve that by shortening the school year.    Teachers want 193 days and that includes "asynchronous classes were to held every Saturday".  I would guess not 1 child in 20 will go to school on a Saturday.  And the one time I was a witness to "Saturday classes" the kids were outside sweeping the yard and picking up litter.  It is just a travesty to see how the public education system here is preparing the youth for a future of mediocracy and/or failure. 

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/06/11/2273017/shorter-school-year-sought-allow-return-old-school-calendar

MANILA, Philippines — A teachers’ organization is asking the Department of Education (DepEd) to shorten the next school year to allow the return to the old June-to-March schedule.

The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) stressed the need to return to the old school calendar, citing the impact of holding classes during the hottest months of April and May.

“This school year, we had extreme heat in schools, a terrible ordeal for both teachers and students. Many fell ill. The heat spell forced many schools to switch back to less-desirable online and modular learning,” read the TDC statement.

“Classes were shortened for the same reason. All of these were implemented to mitigate the impact of the heat, aggravated by our congested, poorly ventilated and inadequately insulated classrooms,” it added.

The group noted that these alternative methods adversely affected learning, stressing that “there is simply no substitute for face-to-face classes.”

While the TDC acknowledges the DepEd’s previous commitments to study the matter, the situation calls for an immediate step to revert the school calendar back to the original schedule.

To do this without compromising the mandated school break for teachers and students, the group suggests a shorter school calendar for the next school year.

Based on the previous department order, the next school year is set to begin on Aug. 28 and end on June 28, 2024.

What the TDC recommends is for it to end on April 27, 2024, resulting in a total of 193 school days if asynchronous classes were to held every Saturday.

This shortening of the next school year will allow schools to open on June 17, 2024, almost the same as the old schedule that usually starts on the first Monday of June.

“In this scheme, the DepEd could ensure that by SY 2024-2025, we would have reverted to our old school calendar with minimal adjustments and without sacrificing the mandatory school break for teachers,” said the TDC.

Under the prevailing DepEd schedule, SY 2024-2025 is from Aug. 26, 2024 to June 27, 2025.

The group also recommended amendments to existing civil service policies to allow teachers to avail of leave credits or paid vacation or sick leaves to ensure that they enjoy the mandated 60-day break.

“We hope that this proposal from the collective wisdom of our teachers and school administrators will receive the proper consideration it merits,” said the TDC.

Earlier, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers also proposed the gradual return to the previous schedule by limiting the number of class days to 185 from the more than 200 days this school year.

Under its proposal, classes would open on Aug. 14 this year; July 29 in 2024; July 7 in 2025 and June 15 in 2026.

[scott h]

Here is the reason why the Philippines has a hard time improving 

 

[Mike J]

26 minutes ago, scott h said:

Here is the reason why the Philippines has a hard time improving 

 

Or this. 

[Old55]

I honestly believe the powers to be want the average Filipino to be unable to think for themselves and only have a basic education. Better to rule sheep than an educated population. 

[scott h]

21 minutes ago, Old55 said:

average Filipino

They are getting their wish, any above average Filipino immigrates. 

[mountainside]

59 minutes ago, Old55 said:

I honestly believe the powers to be want the average Filipino to be unable to think for themselves and only have a basic education. Better to rule sheep than an educated population.

I never wanted to come to that conclusion, but now I'm headed in that direction.  The large landowners seem very resistant to an educated or even slightly thoughtful peasant class.  And the political dynasties seem to have done little or nothing to improve the education of their constituents.  It took a while for the Filipino educational establishment to even accept the international study (studies?) that demonstrates how abysmal the educational system is. 

I'm close to only a few Filipino professional class families, but they're utterly committed to paying whatever it takes to put their children through private schools.  Those kids speak English much better than a large percentage of their peers here in the US.  It all points to an ever increasing wealth and education gap.

No sweat for me, of course.  I'll return as a retiree with an OK budget.  But not enough budget to put a couple kids through private schools and higher education.

[Freebie]

And the Head of Education, as well as bei ng VP is a lady who, presumably will think she can be the next President here.

Baffling and in some ways beyond belief. But hey, the government ALWAYS knows best, right ???

[Lee]

3 hours ago, Mike J said:

Here is the reason why the Philippines has a hard time improving 

Let me add a reason of my own about why Filipino kids often do so poorly in school.

 

[Old55]

It should be said there are many excellent dedicated Filipino teachers doing their best with not much. 

[hk blues]

For balance, I'd also throw in the fact that the decline in education standards is not exclusive to the Philippines. Anyone who takes more than a passing interest in education in the UK will note some worrying trends - I'm sure it's the same in the US/Australia etc.

That said, the bar here in the Philippines was already set pretty low so lowering it seems curious.