MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) has suspended in-person classes in all public schools in the country on April 29 to 30 due to extreme heat and a planned nationwide transportation strike.

“In view of the latest heat index forecast of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) and the announcement of a nationwide transport strike, all public schools nationwide shall implement asynchronous classes/distance learning on April 29 and 30, 2024,” the DepEd said in its advisory on Sunday, April 28.

The DepEd also said that all teaching and non-teaching staff are not required to report physically to their stations.

“However, activities organized by Regional and Schools Division Offices, such as Regional Athletic Association Meets and other division or school level programs, to be conducted on the aforementioned dates may push through as scheduled, provided that measures for the safety of all participants have been carefully considered,” the DepEd added.

Private schools have the option to implement the same, the department said.

In response to extreme heat, the DepEd earlier approved a gradual return to the old academic calendar, where students would have a break from April to May, although opponents of the proposal view this as a stopgap measure.

Critics say the problem is not really the academic calendar, but the classrooms, which are not built to withstand extreme heat in the Philippines, a tropical country.

The school opening in the Philippines was moved to October, instead of June, in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and remote learning was implemented. In the succeeding years, it was moved to August.

The return to the old academic calendar was triggered by public clamor because the summer months of April and May are not conducive to learning. – Rappler.com