Lawmaker opposes shift to old school calendar

CAGAYAN de Oro 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez has opposed the proposed shift to the JuneMarch school calendar from the August-May timeline.

In a statement on Sunday, Rodriguez cited the rainy season as the principal reason for his opposition.

“Let’s retain the present academic calendar for the sake of our children. Let’s spare them from rainy season ailments such as colds, fever and flu,” he said.

Citing previous studies, he said there were fewer rainy days in the current school calendar (AugustMay) compared with the old one (June-March).

“Let’s not expose our students and children to more rain, more flooding and more rainy-day health risks. The young — those in pre-school, kindergarten and in the grades — are the most vulnerable,” Rodriguez said.

He said that fewer rainy days also mean fewer class suspensions. Furthermore, he pointed out that returning to the old school calendar would mean difficult adjustments for parents, teachers, other school personnel and students.

“They have already adjusted to the August-May timeline. So, let’s leave it at that; let’s not disturb it,” he said.

However, House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro said the proposal to move to return the opening of classes to June was “the result of numerous students, teachers and parents demands.”

“Students and teachers also go to school during the rainy season and have adapted well to it. It also seems that more time for classes was wasted during summer because classes cannot have lessons due to the extreme heat,” she said.

Castro added that the severe storms come from August to November.

There was a year when classes were suspended at the August opening because of a storm, she said.

“We do not want this to happen again to our teachers and students, so we should let the opening of classes return to June as soon as possible and not block it,” she said.