Climate-adaptive school calendar pressed

The 35 days lost in the current school year due to natural calamities have sparked calls for the Department of Education (DepEd) to implement a climate-adaptive academic calendar and build more resilient campuses to prevent future disruptions.

Bohol Rep. Kristine Alexie Tutor, chairperson of the House Committee on Civil Service and Professional Regulation, emphasized the need for DepEd to adopt a school calendar that “adapts to the abnormal new climate patterns” following reports of significant learning losses caused by typhoons.

“Last summer, I warned about the strong typhoons and floods that would come after the El Niño. But many still insisted on opening the school year in July. The DepEd recommended the wrong school calendar policy to Malacañang at the time,” Tutor lamented.

The Covid-19 pandemic forced an abrupt shift in the academic calendar, moving from a June-March schedule to August-May.

However, extreme heat from El Niño endangered the health of both students and teachers, leading to widespread class suspensions.

In response, DepEd decided to revert to the old school calendar beginning in 2024-2025. Yet, the subsequent natural disasters caused by La Niña also posed their own challenges.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara reported last week that the Cordillera Administrative Region had the highest number of class disruptions at 35, followed by Cagayan Valley, Ilocos Region, CALABARZON and Central Luzon, each with 29 disruptions.

Some suspensions were also caused by man-made hazards such as fires.