Crafting a law to revert to old school calendar no longer needed — Gatchalian

Sen. Win Gatchalian presides over the Committee on Basic Education’s inquiry in the Senate. Senate PRIB / Bibo Nueva España

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday said he is in favor of reverting to the pre-pandemic school calendar in the Philippines, and stating that there is no need to craft a law to implement this measure.

Gatchalian, who also sits as the head of the Senate committee on education, restated his approval of this proposal, explaining that this will benefit the learners.

“Pabor ako na ibalik sa dati o April-May ang summer [break] at ang start ng School Year (SY) ay mid-June. Number one ay sanay na tayo sa ganyang sistema at number two it gives the learners a chance to be with their friends and spend time with their family,” he said in an ambush interview after a Senate hearing on the status of mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTBMLE).

(I am in favor of reverting summer break to April-May and starting the SY in mid-June. Number one is that we are used to such a system and number two it gives the learners a chance to be with their friends and spend time with their family.)

Gatchalian then underscored that apart from education, the development of children is also important.

“Pabor ako dyan. Hindi ko lang nakikita na dapat pang gawing batas ‘yan. Importante siguro na makipag dialogue sa Department of Education (DepEd) at ang alam ko ang DepEd ay gagawin talaga nila ‘yan dahil pinag aaralan na nila,” Gatchalian then suggested.

(I am in favor of that. I just don’t think that it’s necessary to be made into a law. Maybe it’s important to have a dialogue with DepEd and what I know about DepEd is that they will definitely do that because they are already studying it.)

In 2020 amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools in the Philippines opted to utilize distance learning to ensure the well-being of learners as well as the teaching personnel. Meanwhile, SY 2021-2022 began in September 2021 according to DepEd. SY 2022-2023, on the other hand, began in August 2022.

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