Despite COVID-19 still raging across the world, including the Philippines, the Department of Education (DepEd) strives to bring normalcy in the lives of learners and ensure the continuity of education in the country.
Thus, after consultations and internal discussions, the Education Department announced that the opening of school year (SY) 2020-2021 will be on August 24. The upcoming school year is comprised of 203 days. These are all in accordance with the law (RA 7797).
This school year will be much different from the previous ones that everyone is used to. Aside from the delayed start of the school year, classes could be help on Saturdays or Sundays to catch up on the number of school days.
Photo credit: Vincent Celeste
There will also be various options for learning delivery. This school year, classes won’t be limited to face-to-face interactions but could also include distance learning options such as online classes. It is also possible that schools will implement a blended type of learning. The mode/s of delivery would largely depend on the local COVID Risk Severity Classification and compliance with minimum health standards.
Under the new school calendar, curricular and co-curricular activities that involve gathering of large numbers of learners are cancelled. These include science fairs, showcase of portfolios, trade fairs, school sports, campus journalism, festival of talents, job fairs, and other similar activities. Only those that can be conducted online will be allowed to proceed.
Brigade Eskwela and Oplan Balik Eskwela will be undertaken from June 1 to August 29, 2020. Teachers are instructed to start rendering service on June 1, 2020. This will give them time to attend seminars, orientations, and training activities for the upcoming school year.
“Given the differing circumstances and capacities by learners and households to cope with the new modalities of learning, a number of learners may be left behind. Thus, efforts to provide remediation and enhancement activities shall also be given more attention,” the memo also stated.
The Christmas break will begin on December 16, 2020, Saturday; classes will resume on January 4, 2021, Monday.
Here’s the school calendar for SY 2020-2021:
