DepEd urged to adjust class schedules to avoid day’s hottest hours

FILE PHOTO: Children enjoy a dip in an inflatable pool on Pasong Tirad in Makati City as the weather bureau declared the beginning of the dry season. Officials have also warned about the impact of El Niño on water supply as the heat index continues to rise in different parts of the country. INQUIRER/MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines — A teachers’ union on Wednesday urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to tweak class schedules to avoid the hottest hours of the day as the country’s dry season, which presents sweltering and humid weather, had started.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers’ (ACT) union chapter in the National Capital Region (NCR) also proposed the installation of air conditioners in classrooms and the implementation of blended learning by alternately holding face-to-face classes in the mornings and distance learning modalities at home.

It pressed the DepEd to take immediate action to address the pressing concern on holding classes amid rising temperatures.

“As educators, we cannot fulfill our mandate to provide quality education if our students and teachers are suffering from the harsh summer heat in classrooms,” the ACT-NCR said in a statement. “We need urgent and concrete solutions that will ensure the safety and well-being of all those involved in the education sector.”

The group also joined calls for the DepEd to return the pre-pandemic April-May school vacation.

But DepEd had thumbed down that suggestion for now.

“At the moment, there are no plans to revert,” said DepEd spokesman Michael Poa.

These suggestions were triggered by the incident in Laguna where 120 students were hospitalized after observing classroom drills under scorching heat last March 23.

READ: 120 students hospitalized after fire, earthquake drills in Cabuyao City

The ACT-NCR also claimed that through an online survey, they found out that 67 percent of teachers felt that the heat in their classrooms are “intolerable” with 87 percent of respondents also reporting that students could not focus on their lessons due to the heat. — MJ Soriano, trainee

KGA