The Department of Education's proposal to adopt a trimester system from kindergarten through senior high school for School Year 2026-2027 requires congressional scrutiny and wider consultation with stakeholders, Senator Bam Aquino warned on Sunday.

Aquino, chair of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, was responding to a proposal by Education Secretary Sonny Angara to provide longer and more flexible instructional periods aimed at improving learning outcomes.

However, Aquino said the committee cannot support reforms that are implemented immediately without “undergoing extensive consultation.”

“The Committee on Basic Education supports proposals and reforms that will address the learning gap and assist teachers, who are currently overloaded with non-teaching tasks. While we recognize the need for comprehensive reform, we must ensure that it is not implemented hastily and that it undergoes proper consultation,” Aquino said in Filipino.

“We will ensure that there is a Senate hearing on this reform to review and discuss it,” he added.

Currently, the school year is divided into four quarters, starting in June and ending in March, with a midterm break in October and a two-week holiday break in late December through the first week of January.

Under the proposed trimester system, the school year would be divided into three quarters with longer, uninterrupted instructional periods and adjusted lesson pacing. The opening and closing of the school year remain unchanged, with DepEd assuring that the 201 school days requirement would still be met.

The first trimester would run from June to September, the second from September to December, and the third from January to March. Policy guidelines for the trimester calendar are expected to be released in the coming days after consultations with stakeholders.

The proposal follows findings by the Second Congressional Commission on Education, which revealed a sharp decline in proficiency rates among students in Grades 3, 6, 10, and 12. The reform also seeks to reduce administrative burdens on teachers amid a shortage of over 30,000 as of 2025.

This year’s budget allocates a historic P1.3 trillion for education, including P29 billion for hiring teaching positions and P42 billion for additional school personnel.