(Eagle News) — The Department of Education has extended the school year for basic education to July 10, 2021.
In issuing DepEd Order No. 012, s. 2021 that made the amendment to DepEd Order No. 30, s. 2020, the DepEd noted that there was a need to address “learning gaps” which were “attributable to reduced academic opportunities at home and substantial loss of live contact with teachers.”
It said there was also a need to “give additional pedagogical time to teachers for the different learning modalities.”
According to the 2021 memo signed by Education Secretary Leonor Briones, from March 1 to 12, schools shall conduct “intervention and remediation activities based on the unique needs of the learners as determined through the results of the different forms of assessments administered for the past two quarters.”
From March 15 to March 19, teachers shall attend a professional development program through an In-Service Training organized by the school or other relevant DepEd units.
The schedule for the succeeding quarters shall therefore be adjusted, with Quarter 3, from March 22, 2021 to May 15, 2021, and Quarter 4 from May 17, 2021 to July 10, 2021.
“The additional two-week period shall be compensated by a similar adjustment in the school break between SY 2020 to 2021 and SY 2021 to 2022,” the DepEd added.
The DepEd said the adjustments shall be implemented in all public elementary and secondary schools nationwide for SY 2020 to 2021.
Private schools, technical and vocational institutions, and higher education institutions including state and local universities and colleges offering the K-12 basic education program are also encouraged to implement the guidelines “according to their philosophy, vision, and mission,” DepEd said.
“Immediate dissemination and compliance with this order is directed,” the department added.
President Rodrigo Duterte has rejected proposals for face-to-face classes sans a vaccine rollout.
The vaccine rollout kicked off on Monday, with some medical and government front-liners given the inoculation.
