A new analysis by state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies reveals that at least 53 out of 180 days, or three months’ worth of teaching time, was lost from class suspensions caused by extreme weather events and teachers’ non-teaching tasks.
Millions of students in the country have on average, lost a quarter’s worth of in person classes last year, mainly due to climate-induced school closures. This time lost has certainly set back the Department of Education’s efforts to recover learning losses from the pandemic and improve the Philippines’ poor standing in international assessments.
Schools across the country lost 32 teaching days due to the high heat index from April to May, among other calamities, the PIDS study found. At least 12 days of teaching time was lost from non-teaching tasks, while other factors, such as local holidays, conflicts, and off-campus activities, took out nine days.
Meanwhile, EDCOM 2 (Second Congressional Commission on Education) Executive Director Karol Yee noted that even if DepEd decongests the curriculum, the shorter school year from the loss of actual teaching days means there is “limited time to absorb the lessons.”
The lack of school days has taken an even greater toll on students with special needs when in-person instruction was impossible. To make matters worse, the heat is typically more unbearable for students with special needs, as some have disabilities that make them more sensitive to high temperatures. This highlights the need for government to make its responses to heat waves more inclusive and sustainable.
DepEd will be embarking on a phased return to the traditional academic calendar year that runs from June to March, but climate advocates are warning that extreme weather events now pose a year-round threat, and teachers and students will still be exposed, especially to typhoons.
Because of the unpredictability of the climate, the significant number of school days lost in 2024 cannot be considered an outlier, and whether or not the academic year is shifted back to the traditional schedule that runs from June to March, which avoids the hottest days of the year, other climate-induced school closures and natural disasters are expected to shut down schools in the country, especially those that are not built or retrofitted with sustainability in mind.
The Department of Education will have to bear most of the burden in ensuring that the delivery of basic education is not hampered, especially as the country continues to grapple with a crippling learning crisis that threatens to derail the country’s future, but other government agencies will have to chip in as well. This includes the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Science and Technology, and local government units, who will all have to work together to build better schools, filled with competent and qualified teaching staff, that are not crowded and at the same time climate-resistant, among so many other things that have to be considered, for our educational system be become more sustainable and resilient.
The more time Filipino students lose from proper learning, the more they ultimately lose. It is up to our government to stop that losing streak.*
