Marcos: Gov't studying reverting school vacation back to March By ANNA FELICIA BAJO, GMA Integrated News

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said the government is studying reverting school vacation back to March. advertisement In a radio interview on Monday, Marcos was asked if the government would bring back the school vacation to March instead of having it from June to July. To recall, the month of school vacation was adjusted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Pinag-aaralan natin ng mabuti 'yan dahil nga marami ngang nagsasabi pwede na, tapos na 'yung lockdown. Karamihan na ng eskwela, face-to-face na, kaunti na lang 'yung hindi na," Marcos said. (We are carefully studying that because a lot of people are suggesting it since the lockdown is over and most schools are already implementing face-to-face classes.) "'Yung ating ginagawa na sistema na hybrid system na mayroong may pumapasok, mayroong nagzozoom o kung anong klaseng pagpromote na pag-attendance, ay lahat gusto talaga na makapag-attend dahil iba talaga 'yan," Marcos added. (The system we are enforcing, which is the hybrid system where some are online and others are physically attending classes, means there are a lot of students who really want to attend class.) It was Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chair of the Senate committee on basic education, who initially floated the idea of reverting school vacation during the summer season as the hot weather has affected classes across the country. In Occidental Mindoro, at least 145 students have been hospitalized since March due to extreme heat and the province's energy problems. It was also in March when around a hundred students were hospitalized in Laguna due to dehydration after a school conducted a surprise fire drill. The Alliance of Concerned Teachers has voiced its support for reverting back to the pre-pandemic academic calendar, saying it should be done "as soon as possible." The Department of Education on Monday, meanwhile, set aside proposals to place air conditioners in public schools to address the problem due to financial constraints. President Marcos also said during the radio interview that the mild rise of COVID-19 cases in some areas should also be considered. According to Marcos, the World Health Organization is still considering the coronavirus as a health emergency. Earlier reports said the WHO would meet in May to assess if they would lift or continue to declare COVID-19 as a "public health emergency of international concern." —VAL, GMA Integrated News

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