The Department of Education (DepEd) on Tuesday presented the proposed school calendar for School Year (SY) 2022-2023 which has 205 school days.
In his presentation during an online news conference, Education Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said that 11 weeks are allotted for every quarter of the SY—the first quarter is set from August 22 to November 4, 2022, the second quarter from November 7, 2022 to February 3, 2023, the third quarter from February 13 to April 28, 2023, and the fourth quarter from May 2 to July 7, 2023.
The Christmas break will start on December 19, 2022 and classes will resume on January 2, 2023.
A mid-year break is also scheduled for four days, from February 6 to 10, 2023.
San Antonio said graduation rites will be held from July 10 to 14, 2023.
The DepEd also set remedial or enrichment classes from July 17, 2023 to August 26, 2023.
100% on-site workforce
Meanwhile, Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said that teachers and non-teaching staff should report onsite even if the current school year has only several months to go before it would end.
Briones said she understands the challenges like poor Internet connectivity in schools, but they need to follow Memorandum Circular No.96 issued by the Office of the President. The memo requires all agencies of the government to adhere to 100 percent on-site workforce in areas under Alert Level 1.
“It is also a requirement of the IATF (Inter Agency Task For the Management of Infectious Diseases) for regions or sites with Alert Level 1 classification. Physical reporting is required. We do have challenges in online education and we are aware of it but we need to comply with the IATF and the circular issued by the Executive Secretary,” Briones said.
San Antonio assured that they are working with regional and division offices to address the problems of Internet connectivity in schools.
Aside from the said circular, Briones has also cited DepEd Memorandum No. 029, series of 2022 requiring 100 percent on-site reporting capacity for all DepEd offices, covering all teaching and non-teaching personnel, including contracts of service and job orders in all offices, schools, and community learning centers, both adopting face-to- face classes and distance learning set up.
“We see the 100 percent on-site reporting as an opportunity to improve the implementation of our multiple learning delivery modalities, through a more efficient supervision and monitoring of the proper use of learning modules and online platform,” she added.
With this, she said, they can facilitate school-level activities such as learning action cells, coaching and mentoring, remedial classes, and parent-teacher conferences.
However, Briones said remote and flexible work arrangements might be adopted depending on the prevailing Covid-19 alert level in the locality where the offices, schools, and community learning centers are located.
Face-to-face classes
On the other hand, San Antonio said blended learning will continue but there will be more face-to-face classes in schools nationwide amid the continued decline in Covid-19 cases.
For his part, Education Assistant Secretary Malcolm Garma said the department is optimistic that the next school year may see most of the schools engaging in limited face-to-face classes.
“We are very optimistic that we can already transition to the new normal phase starting school year 2022-2023,” Garma said.
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