More schools want to reset academic sked

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—More schools are considering joining top universities in shifting the academic calendar and starting their classes in August or September, instead of June, and ending it in May or June, instead of March.

But these colleges and universities need a go signal from the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) before they can make the switch, said Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) legal counsel Joseph Noel Estrada.

“Based on discussions, some of the schools, without actively saying it, have no objections. But unless CHEd makes it mandatory, the other colleges cannot plan for it,” said Estrada, who is also legal counsel of the broader Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (Cocopea).

The University of the Philippines (UP), Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University and the University of Santo Tomas (UST) are reportedly mulling the possibility of synchronizing their academic calendar with the rest of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) member-nations as well as Asean partners China, Japan, South Korea and the United States, which start classes in August.

Attract foreign students

The shift is in line with the Asean economic integration that will take effect in 2015, when Philippine universities would be expected to attract foreign students and facilitate the enrollment abroad of Filipino students and faculty.

“How can we internationalize if we’re not synchronized? In Asean, we’re the only country that has [a] June to March [academic calendar]. The others [follow an] August to May [calendar],” Estrada said.

“The consensus is we support [the shift] because we are aligned for Asean 2015 and the K to 12 program,” he added.

But Estrada pointed out that while the likes of UP, Ateneo, La Salle and UST do not need the prior approval of CHEd since they have been granted “autonomous” status, other universities and colleges need a CHEd order to revise their school calendar.

CHEd has so far not given its imprimatur to the plan of top universities to revise their school calendar.