Will CHED follow the new class opening schedule of DepEd?
CHED – The Commission on Higher Education gave a statement on class opening following the Department of Education (DepEd) moving the start of its school year.
Supposedly, the opening of the school year in elementary and secondary schools in the Philippines is in June. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has to be moved for the safety of the students.
The Philippines has recorded a total of 153,660 cases of coronavirus as of this writing. According to the Department of Health (DOH), there were 2,442 deaths and 71,405 recoveries out of the said total.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country now, the Department of Education (DepEd) initially moved the opening of classes in elementary and secondary schools to August 24 instead of June. A remote month-long enrollment was held last June instead.
However, following the recent huge daily increases in the coronavirus cases in the country, the DepEd class opening got another shift. Instead of having it on August 24, it was moved to October.
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Following the DepEd shift, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) earned calls to also move the class opening in colleges and universities. To this, the Commission gave a statement explaining why it cannot do so.
Based on a report on CNN, CHED Chairman Prospero De Vera III explained that the Commission is not covered by the Republic Act 11480. It is the law that allows the adjustments on school calendar for elementary and secondary schools.
Furthermore, De Vera cited that the Republic Act 7722 or the Higher Education Act grants universities academic freedom with regards to the opening of their school year upon the approval of the board. Based on the report, the opening is also based on the structuring of a college or a university’s semesters.
In line with it, the Higher Education Chairman revealed that some universities and colleges started their school year as early as June while others schedule it in October.
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