DepEd: School year 2023-2024 to end by May 31 2024
The Department of Education (DepEd) has announced that school year (SY) 2023-2024 will end by May 31 – two weeks earlier than what was announced previously. Meanwhile, SY 2024-2025 will begin by 29 July 2024 and end by 16 May 2025.
This is outlined in Vice President and concurrent Education Sara Duterte-Carpio’s Department Order No. 3-2024 which was released February 19. In her order, Duterte reiterated that this is in response to the public clamor for the agency “to gradually revert the school calendar to the pre-pandemic opening of classes.”
“Alongside the resounding consensus from extensive consultations with teachers, learners, and relevant stakeholders, the same call is echoed by the findings of the study conducted by the Philippine Normal University (PNU) titled “Analysis of the Basic Education School Year Calendar in the Philippines: Inputs to Policy,” Duterte added. DepEd intends to resume the opening the classes to June by 2026.
These are some of the takeaways from Duterte’s order:
1) This episode shows the importance of the work being done by teacher organizations such as the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers which have steadfastly highlighted how challenging it is to have classes in poorly-ventilated public schools during April and May when the dry season is at its peak.
2) These organizations also deserve credit for persuading DepEd’s leadership to explicitly order that the end-of-school year (EOSY) rites needs to be done on or before the school year officially ends. This is in response to the frequent observation that public school teachers were still being required to report for work even if the school year has already ended because of EOSY-related duties.
DepEd’s emphasis that teachers shall not be made to do any voluntary or mandatory tasks throughout June 2024 should also be seen in this context.
4) It is also noteworthy that Duterte specifically cited a research conducted by PNU as one of DepEd’s basis for agreeing that the opening of classes should be moved back to June. This shows that it is possible for teacher training institutions to have a positive impact in government’s education policy making. The university evidently has Duterte’s ears, especially considering that her grandmother Soledad Duterte was a teacher who graduated from the said institution.
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