Why are universities moving their class opening from June?

MANILA, Philippines - The University of the Philippines (UP) system and the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU)  moved their school years from June to March to August to May. The University of Santo Tomas  (UST) moved to July to April. De La Salle University (DLSU), which has three semesters per year,  has also informed the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) of their intention to move their academic calendar from May.

It has been a baffling few months for parents of senior high school students why schools are  moving their school years.

Moving school calendars is an option for colleges and universities as provided in Republic Act 7797, Section 3 which states that the school year shall start on the first Monday of June but not later than the last day of August. The yniversities’ decision is also backed by Republic Act 7722 which provides some leeway for higher education institutions to establish their own academic calendars and set their opening days in order to encourage innovation and the exercise of academic freedom among institutions of higher learning.

In response to the growing debate on changing academic calendars, CHED recently created a technical working group headed by former CHED Chairperson Ester Garcia, tasked to study the feasibility of moving academic calendars.

In accordance with the TWG’s recommendations, CHED released a statement cautioning schools to move academic calendars to align with the international community and rightly arguing that there are a lot of quality assurance issues that most higher education institutions need to focus on before they work on moving their academic calendars.

So why are schools under pressure to move academic calendars?

Advantages

The first reason cited by schools is to align them with the international academic calendars.

The United States and most of Europe start school year around mid- July to first week of September. Some  even start as late as first week of October. Aligning the Philippine calendar year with the rest of  the world including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), due to commitments to the ASEAN integration, allows for easier transition for students who will enroll in further studies in these jurisdictions. The K+12 program is also part of this alignment to facilitate mutual
recognition treaties of Philippine diplomas in academic institutions in other countries.

Take for example, the case of a student taking his undergraduate studies in UP Diliman and wants to study in Canada. Universities in Canada refuse to recognize his degree as the previous Philippine educational system lacks two years of elementary and high school education. Thus, some schools abroad, like those in Canada, require that he takes another year enrolled in a master’s degree in UP to be eligible to apply for admission into the master’s program in Canada.

Aligning with the international academic calendar also facilitates student participation in exchange programs. Seniors in UP, for example, who applied for the exchange program to
South Korea had to leave their semester half-done to a new semester. Top students all over the world participate in exchange programs and having a different academic calendar penalizes exchange program participation from and into the Philippines.

CHED clarified that moving academic calendars is not central to the goal of internationalization.

CHED Chairperson Patricia Licuanan said that “CHED stands firm in its belief that the best way to internationalize or engage with the global academic community is for higher education institutions to intensify their quality assurance, capacity-building and institutional development programs.” She stressed that quality assurance remains at the core of mutual recognition and internationalization.

Licuanan said there are Philippine universities that are prepared to engage with the international academic community, and synchronizing their academic calendars with their international university partners may provide the right signal for collaboration. However, there are also other current gaps that need to be addressed if universities are to fully engage the international academic community such as requirements for work permits, tax regulations, and for public universities, the issue of tenure for non-Filipino academics.

Disadvantages

However, moving the academic calendar means that the hottest month of the year will be school days. Some have cited this as a disadvantage as not all classrooms are well ventilated.

Some have also cited the overlap with most town fiestas and Holy Week thus may affect attendance. However, it should be asked whether holidays should take precedence over the advantages of moving the school year.

The CHED’s technical working group notes that class suspensions due to heavy rains and typhoons tend to spike from July through October. Thus, shifting the start of the academic

calendar from June to August would not make much of a difference.

There is also the concern for families, particularly those from farming and fishing communities who would have difficulty with an August school opening because agricultural cycles cause them to run out of financial resources in August, hence a June start is most feasible.

A group of UP Diliman professors also raised similar issues against moving the academic calendar.

Transitioning from high school which ends in March and going to a university that will start July or August would also provide for a longer gap between the two levels. The change in academic  calendars would then need to be coordinated with the Department of Education.

About the Author

Mark Canlas owns a review center that runs UPCAT Reviews. He graduated magna cum laude from UP Diliman with a degree in Economics and got his master’s degree from the University of  Sydney in Australia. He works full-time in one of the Philippines’ top 3 banks.