The Department of Education (DepEd) says it will no longer entertain the idea of proposing to shorten students' summer break from two months to two weeks after receiving criticism on social media. A report by ABS-CBN News shares Education Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio's statement regarding the matter: “It was among the many options we were considering but noting the objections from our stakeholders, we will no longer propose a two-week break."
Just last month, DepEd was considering a shortened summer break between school years to balance out the prolonged suspension of face-to-face classes. "Kasi nakabakasyon na sila ng anim na buwan, magdagdag na naman tayo ng bakasyon," says Education Secretary Leonor Briones in a report by CNN Philippines. The shortened summer break was also meant to give way to a proposed extension of the current school year to give students more time to work on and finish requirements.
Students and faculty members alike took to social media to voice out their frustrations regarding the proposal of an extended school year and a shortened break, pointing out the year-long elevated levels of burnout brought about by the shift to online classes.
In 2020, DepEd also proposed to resume face-to-face classes on a limited capacity in areas under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ). This was also met by concerns from students given the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the country at the time. The proposal initially received approval from the president and was slated to begin in January 2021. In December 2020, DepEd announced that the approval was recalled after the emergence of a new coronavirus strain. The dry run of face-to-face classes remains postponed until further notice.
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