Public school students will not be required to wear school uniforms for the coming school year, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio said on Monday.
In a statement, Duterte-Carpio said this aimed to ease the financial burden on families of learners.
She said wearing school uniforms was no longer required even during the pre-pandemic period under DepEd Order No. 065 issued in 2010.
“Even before the pandemic, it is not a strict requirement for public schools to wear uniforms to avoid incurring additional costs to the families of our learners,” Duterte-Carpio said.
“All the more that it will not be required this school year given the increasing prices and economic losses due to the pandemic,” she added.
Under the said order, “Students with existing uniforms may continue using these uniforms if they so desire.”
The Vice President earlier said the start of the school year on August 22 is already final.
“That has been approved by the President. The school year will be from August 2022 to July 2023,” she said amid calls for the postponement of the opening of classes.
She said schools can now safely open since health protocols have already been put in place since the onset of the pandemic two years ago.
“The difference now is we know the health protocols by heart. We have vaccines and we have a lot of supply of it, and we have COVID-19 medicines,” the Vice President said. “We need not wait for anything.”
DepEd, however, will not prescribe a class size once in-person classes resume at full capacity in November, she said.
Under DepEd Order No. 34, public and private basic education schools are mandated to shift to five days of in-person classes per week starting November 2.
Distance and blended learning will no longer be allowed beyond the said date, according to the order.
A recent Pulse Asia survey commissioned by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian showed an overwhelming preference for children’s participation in face-to-face classes in the coming school year.
Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture, said this sends a signal to the government that the resumption of in-person classes should no longer be delayed.
The commissioned survey showed 94 percent of adult respondents agree that children should be allowed to attend face-to-face classes.
Four percent cannot say if they agree or may disagree and only two percent said they disagree.