President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. on Monday said the government is studying the proposal to revert to the pre-pandemic school calendar where students take vacations during the months of April and May.
"Pinag-aaralan natin ng mabuti iyan dahil maraming nagsasabi na pwede na [dahil] tapos na ang lockdown at karamihan sa eskwela ay face-to-face na, kaonti na lang ang hindi," Marcos said during an interview with former Social Welfare Secretary Erwin Tulfo in his radio program.
He said that most students prefer to attend in-person classes than online.
"Since hindi na tayo naka-lockdown, ibalik na lang siguro natin sa dati," Marcos said.
But according to the President, the implementation date of the pre-pandemic calendar has yet been decided due to the rising number of COVID-19.
Citing information from the World Trade Organization (WHO), he said the Philippines is still under a health emergency status.
"Tayo medyo binawasan na natin ang emergency statues pero kailangan pa rin natin tingnan kung ano ang advice, ano ang payo na binibigay sa atin ng World Health Organization," Marcos said.
The chief executive said the final decision on the recommendation will be announced "very soon."
Senator Sherwin 'Win' Gatchalian, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, first floated the suggestion of returning the original academic calendar following the incident of heat exhaustion of over 100 high school students in Cabuyao City, Laguna.
The Department of Education (DepEd) earlier said that it created a group tasked to study the recommendation.
Meanwhile, DepEd has issued a memorandum order reminding all private and public school heads that they can suspend face-to-person classes and implement modular distance learning amid the extreme heat and threats of power outages during this Summer season.
