MANILA, Philippines?The parents of students in overcrowded public schools must be consulted before school authorities shorten their children?s class hours, a Department of Education (DepEd) official said.

Undersecretary Vilma Labrador said school officials should also orient teachers on DepEd Order 90 which allows for the cutting of class hours in overcrowded schools.

?Prior to implementation, school heads are advised to consult with teachers and parents who will be affected by the changes,? Labrador said.

?(School heads should also) ensure that teachers are duly oriented on the procedures, strategies and the needed teaching-learning materials to ensure mastery of skills required for the grade,? she said.

Earlier, DepEd critic and ?sick book? crusader Antonio Calipjo-Go scored the order, saying that it would ?shortchange? students.

DepEd officials countered that the order was meant to ensure the safety of the students and was issued after ?calls [were received] from parents concerning the safety? of their children.

Two and three classroom shifts a day had resulted in students being out on the streets very early in the morning or after dark.

Labrador said the order and a Revised Classroom Program would be implemented in urban schools currently operating a ?double-single session.?

Those schools have over 60 students per class and the order was issued with ?the end in view of eventually splitting classes when the resources so warrant,? she said.

Under the order, contact hours for Grades 1 and 2 were cut to four hours a day. Science and Health will form part of the discussions and grammar and language practice in English (1 hour, 30 minutes) while Sibika at Kultura will be similarly discussed in Pilipino (1 hour, 20 minutes).

The integration of Science and Health in English has been implemented since 2001, the DepEd said.

Grade 3 learning hours were set at four and a half hours with Science and Health as a stand-alone subject (40 minutes), while contact time in Pilipino, with Sibika at Kultura integrated, was reduced by 10 minutes.

For Grades 4 to 6, learning time were set for five hours with Pilipino as a stand-alone subject.