4,000 Schools Suspend Onsite Classes Due To Heat – DepEd

Unbearable classroom conditions caused by extreme heat amid the intense dry season have forced the Department of Education (DepEd) to suspend onsite classes in nearly 4,000 schools across the country, affecting over 1.3 million learners.

The DepEd said the region with the most number of schools currently implementing the alternative delivery mode (ADM) as a result of extreme heat is Western Visayas with about 990 schools in the cities of Bacolod, Roxas, Kabangkalan, Silay, Himamaylan, Sipalay, San Carlos and Passi, as well as in the provinces of Iloilo and Guimaras.

About 331,911 students are currently staying at home in the region for ADM classes.

It is followed by Soccsksargen with about 801 schools in General Santos City, Koronadal City, Cotabato and South Cotabato suspending onsite classes yesterday.

Schools with the most number of affected learners are in the National Capital Region with 395,210 of them undergoing ADM after 183 schools in the cities of Caloocan, Malabon, Marikina, Navotas, Pasay and San Juan suspended classes yesterday.

In the regions of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa and Zamboanga Peninsula, a combined total of 976 schools have suspended onsite classes, affecting 626,828 learners.

Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas and Bicol Regions have a combined total of 1,004 schools currently suspending onsite classes. The number of affected students in the region has yet to be determined.

Only the regions of Northern Mindanao, Davao, Caraga and Cordillera have not suspended onsite classes.

Transition

Onsite class disruptions and the worsening conditions in classrooms amid the intense dry season have prompted teachers’ groups to call on the DepEd to expedite the transition to the old school calendar, which is expected to take full hold three school years from now.

Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) chairman Benjo Basas said the DepEd should end School Year (SY) 2024-2025 by mid-April 2025 instead of initial plans of ending it on the fourth week or in May.

“I hope the DepEd will also consider shortening the next school year (SY 2024-2025) and finish it by mid-April so that the transition will be faster. April and May classes are what we need to avoid. According to the DepEd’s plan, it may take two or three years before we have no classes in April or May,” Basas said in a statement.

Amid class disruptions brought by extreme heat and the expected suspensions in the monsoon season, the TDC said the DepEd should also suspend the implementation of Catch-Up Fridays to prioritize learners’ academic needs, especially with potential reductions in class hours and the previously approved reduction of school days.

Stressing that no student or teacher should risk their health during the dry season, the TDC also urged the DepEd to consider shortening class hours or implementing a “shifting” to avoid hours when the heat is intense.

Various groups earlier called for the return to the old school calendar, citing the heat experienced by students during March and April. Even lawmakers sought to intervene by filing proposals to shift to the old calendar, stressing that the current school calendar running from August to June is inappropriate in the country.

The DepEd previously issued DepEd Order No. 3, series of 2024 last Feb. 19, adjusting the end of the current school year from June 15 to May 31, 2024. The same order also set the opening and closing dates for SY 2024-2025 as July 29, 2024 and May 16, 2025, respectively.

Suspension

The Quezon City government on Wednesday, April 3, released new guidelines on the automatic suspension of onsite classes due to extreme heat.

In an advisory issued by the Schools Division Office in Quezon City, public elementary and high schools in the city will automatically implement ADMs such as online and modular learning if the heat index reaches 40 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, based on existing policies, the decision to suspend onsite classes is left to the discretion of private school administrators, although the city government encourages them to follow suspensions implemented by local and national governments.

The heat index advisory will come from the city’s iRiseUP System, which consolidates various data and technologies to provide real-time weather updates to early warning systems, among others.

The Quezon City government on Tuesday, April 2, suspended onsite classes due to extreme heat.

Pasay City

The city government of Pasay suspended face-to-face classes in all levels in both public and private schools due to the extremely high heat index.

In an executive order issued last Tuesday night, Mayor Imelda Calixto-Rubiano encouraged schools to shift and implement any applicable learning modality to avoid disruption in the academic calendar.

Rubiano said the suspension was based on the recommendation of the Pasay City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PCDRRMO).

The recommendation came after the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) recorded a heat index of 42 degrees Celsius in the city last Tuesday.

The state weather bureau also reported that the heat index in the city would soar up to 43 degrees Celsius, prompting the suspension of classes.

Rubiano said she had already directed the PCDRRMO to closely monitor PAGASA’s forecast to determine if there is a need to extend the one-day suspension of classes.

Valenzuela

In Valenzuela City, schools have shifted to blended learning for the rest of the month to protect students from extreme heat.

Classes in public schools are to be held in the morning from April 3 to 30 from 5:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., with three days of face-to-face classes and two days for modular distance learning.

In a video message posted on the city government Facebook page, Mayor Weslie Gatchalian urged learners and parents to coordinate with schools for their grouping.

For private schools, face-to-face classes are from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Classes in daycare centers have shifted to online classes, according to Gatchalian.

State universities will hold face-to-face classes from April 8 to 30 from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., while afternoon and evening classes will be held online.

Gatchalian said students are allowed to wear comfortable clothes during the period.

The local government will also provide drinking water to 17 public schools that have no access to water refilling stations.

Alternative method

The principal of Casay National High School in San Francisco, Quezon ordered the appropriate alternative method of classes to be implemented on Wednesday, where sessions would start at 7 a.m. and end at 10 a.m.

Byron Aloysius Cuerdo, the school principal, said the notice is for students, teachers and non-teaching personnel of the school in relation to the extreme heat being experienced, especially that they are near the sea.

The afternoon class was also suspended and would be implemented either through modular distance learning or through any online platform that may be appropriate in the situation.

All school facilities were said to be vacated after sessions.

Cuerdo further emphasized that no school activities would be conducted within the premises after 10 a.m. unless absolutely necessary.

He said there should be limited transactions on weekday afternoons to ensure that non-teaching personnel are also safe from any heat-related hazards.

Suspensions 

In Cebu, several local government units (LGUs) have suspended onsite classes, mostly in public schools amid intense heat.

The city of Talisay has suspended onsite classes from April 3 to 14 as announced by Mayor Gerald Anthony Gullas Jr. in a post on Facebook.

The declaration, as agreed by DepEd officials in the city, is aligned with the recommendations of its disaster team led by Alvin Santillana.

Students who were scheduled to take the National Achievement Test and Early Language Literacy and Numeracy Assessment, however, were still made to report for onsite classes.

For private schools, it is up to the school administrators’ discretion.

While onsite classes are suspended, Gullas expressed hope that parents will supervise their children and ensure their safety and not use this as an excuse to go out for swimming and other leisure activities.

As of Wednesday night, other LGUs that had canceled onsite classes were the cities of Naga and Toledo, and the municipalities of Minglanilla, Liloan, Cordova, San Fernando and Consolacion.

Liloan and Consolacion’s suspension of onsite classes in public schools is from April 3 to 12.

No definite date was set for the suspension of onsite classes in other LGUs that have so far declared such.

For Lapu-Lapu City, Mayor Ahong Chan announced that the suspension of the onsite classes would be from April 3 to 12.

Should the weather condition improve, onsite classes will resume, according to Chan.

Like Gullas, Chan also asked parents to look after the welfare of their kids while also advising not to let kids go outdoors.

The PAGASA Mactan Station recorded a heat index of 36 degrees Celsius last Tuesday, with a forecast of 37 to 38 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.

Negros Oriental

The provincial government of Negros Oriental has also ordered the suspension of onsite classes in all levels in public and private schools in the province effective April 3 until further notice due to extreme heat.

In his Executive Order No. 24, series of 2024, Gov. Manuel Sagarbarria disclosed that the declaration on suspension of onsite classes was requested by the Division of Negros Oriental, through its head, Neri Ojastro, to ensure the safety and well-being of students, teachers and DepEd personnel.

Sagarbarria also encouraged all school heads to implement modular distance learning or alternative learning system to ensure continuity of learning.

Because of the continuing heat wave, the suspension of onsite classes in several LGUs in Negros Occidental has been extended since April 1.

Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez has extended the suspension of onsite classes in pre-school, elementary, secondary and senior high school levels in the highly urbanized city until today.

Caesar Distrito, Benitez’s spokesman, said teachers are once again encouraged to adopt ADMs for instructional methods to benefit their students.

Private schools with air-conditioned rooms and tertiary-level institutions, however, may exercise their discretion to continue with onsite classes, according to Distrito.

Onsite classes in both public and private schools in the cities of Silay, Talisay, Himamaylan and San Carlos, as well as the municipality of E.B. Magalona, all in Negros Occidental, were also suspended.

The local governments of Bago City, Binalbagan, La Carlota City and Victorias City are leaving it up to the discretion of supervisors and school heads to suspend onsite classes.

Heat index in the province, as forecasted by PAGASA yesterday, reached 40 degrees Celsius.

City-wide suspension

The Zamboanga City government declared the suspension of onsite classes in all levels in both public and private school due to the raging heat experienced in the past days in this city and the nearby province.

In a statement, the local government said the suspension would start today and tomorrow on recommendation of Task Force El Niño chaired by Zamboanga City Mayor John Dalipe, who also chairs the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council.

Forecast from the local weather station showed that the city would experience a heat index of 41 degrees Celsius and would be among the areas with extreme heat.

Before the suspension, the City School Division and some of the universities have already been implementing modular classes, a system adopted during the height of the COVID-19  pandemic, to ensure that the classes of the learners would be unhampered.

Work limitations

As temperatures soar to record highs across the country, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III has called on the government to adopt measures or work limitations during periods of intense heat and the enforcement of occupational heat safety and health protocols, drawing inspiration from global initiatives such as the directive by the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation or MoHRE in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“The Department of Labor and Employment should work with the private sector in implementing a similar policy. As I said last year, there should be a temporary work break or compulsory rest periods when the heat index reaches a danger level,” Pimentel said.

Citing the alarming forecast from PAGASA, Pimentel pointed out the imminent risks posed by soaring temperatures. 

PAGASA’s warning of a “danger” level heat index ranging from 42 to 51 degrees Celsius in Metro Manila and other regions underscores the urgency for swift implementation of protocols to prevent heat-related illnesses and injuries, according to the senator.

Based on data from PAGASA, a heat index of 42 degrees Celsius was documented last Saturday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City.

The monitoring station at NAIA consistently logged a heat index of 43 degrees Celsius on March 29 and March 28, 44 degrees Celsius on March 27 and 42 degrees Celsius on March 26.

In light of these alarming figures, Pimentel strongly recommended the lowering of the heat index threshold to 40 degrees Celsius, as observed in the UAE. – With additional reports from Janvic Mateo, Nillicent Bautista, Emmanuel Tupas, Michelle Zoleta, Caecent No-ot Magsumbol/The Freeman, Gilbert Bayoran, Roel Pareño, Cecille Suerte Felipe and Sheila Crisostomo