President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law allowing the Chief Executive to set or move the opening date of classes in case of a state of calamity or emergency.
Republic Act No. 11480—which was approved on July 17 but was announced only on Monday—amended Republic Act No. 7797, which says the opening of classes should be between the first Monday of June and the last day of August.
In case of a declaration of a state of emergency or calamity, the President, on the recommendation of the Education secretary, “may set a different date for the start of the school year in the country or parts thereof,” the new law said.
The Education department welcomed the signing of the new law.
"We thank the president for signing [the new law] mandating the Secretary of Education to recommend to the Chief Executive adjustments in the school calendar in times of national emergency," Education Secretary Leonor Briones said in a statement.
She said her department had been consulting and conferring with the President and legislators over the proposed law.
Senator Win Gatchalian said the new law provides that the school year starts on the first Monday of June but not later than the last week of August.
Earlier, Gatchalian, head of the Senate’s basic education committee, said the Education department was nearly 90-percent ready for next month's opening of classes at the local level, where blended forms of learning methods would be used as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the COVID-19 pandemic had caused enrollment to drop for the coming school year, Senator Francis Pangilinan had urged the Education department to make available more financial aid and other assistance to students and teachers.
The new law covers all basic education schools, including foreign or international schools, in the Philippines. It also allows the conduct of Saturday classes for the elementary and secondary levels.
The Education department earlier announced that the coming school year would start on Aug. 24.
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Face-to-face classes will not be held until a COVID-19 vaccine is available. The department had emphasized the use of online and modular learning and radio and television networks to ensure the delivery of lessons.
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Last week, Duterte asked the department and the Commission on Higher Education to submit their position papers on the possibility of face-to-face classes in the areas considered as low-risk in the spread of COVID-19.
Under the new law, the Education secretary may also determine the end of the regular school year and authorize the holding of Saturday classes in the elementary and secondary levels of public and private schools.
