MANILA, Philippines — In light of the country’s dry season, which has brought about scorching and humid weather conditions, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers’ (ACT) union chapter in the National Capital Region (NCR) has urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to modify class schedules.
The teachers’ union has also proposed installing air conditioning units in classrooms and adopting blended learning by alternating face-to-face classes in the mornings and distance learning modalities at home.
The ACT-NCR emphasized the need for the DepEd to take immediate action to address the pressing concern of holding classes amid rising temperatures.
“It is our duty as educators to provide quality education to our students, but this cannot be achieved if our students and teachers are suffering from the harsh summer heat in classrooms.”
ACT-NCR
“We require urgent and concrete solutions that will ensure the safety and well-being of all those involved in the education sector.”
Apart from calling for the DepEd to restore the pre-pandemic April-May school vacation, the ACT-NCR also cited an online survey that found that 67% of teachers experienced “intolerable” heat in their classrooms, with 87% of respondents reporting that students could not focus on their lessons due to the high temperatures.
Despite these proposals, the suggestion to restore the pre-pandemic April-May school vacation was rejected for now, according to DepEd spokesman Michael Poa.
These proposals were triggered by the recent incident in Laguna, where 120 students were hospitalized after participating in classroom drills under scorching heat on March 23.
News source: ACT-NCR Union and Inquirer