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Diwa Abueva

Should School in the Philippines Start Every


August?
Changing the school calendar of the Philippines will
have both positive and negative outcomes.
Synchronization with other universities in Southeast Asia
and global competitiveness are just some of the reasons
why it has come to a point for the Philippines to change
the school calendar. It appears as a bandwagon effect to
other people like hipster to mainstream. The question
remains, however, whether or not it makes our nation
better? Will it move us toward internationalization? The
answer is within our hands.
Schools in the Philippines have always started around
June. We are actually the only Southeast Asian country
that follows the June to March school calendar. School
starts in July as for Myanmar and October in Cambodia.
For the rest of the countries that are part of ASEAN, they
start in August. This brings us to the main reason why
universities in the Philippines such as University of the
Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, University of
Santo Tomas and etc., have switched their school
calendars to August like the rest of the world. According to
UP President, Alfredo Pascual, the purpose of this
adjustment is to facilitate academic changes, joint
research, and quality benchmarking. As cited in one article
in Rappler, our country has low rankings by means of
universities and poor researches done. With the help of
ASEAN, we will possibly have a higher chance to improve
our education and knowledge. Pascual also mentioned
that the change would maximize the opportunities offered
by ASEAN integration and global education partnerships.
This is a positive outcome that may happen. It will help
our country to be as successful as other countries, through
education.
There are also a lot of benefits that Filipino students
will encounter. For instance, the longer break between

high school graduation, which usually happens late March,


and college will help these alumni prepare themselves for
college.
It can be a period of bridging for those who need
classes in languages, science, and math before entering
UP, Pascual said.
It is true that it will help high school fresh graduates
to prepare by studying in advance or taking up an extra
curricular for their future needs but that will all depend on
the student. Aside from the longer break benefits; there
will be reduce of transportation cost for students who go
home during the holidays. This is an important and
positive effect especially to students who are financially
poor. This will become a big benefit to them. With the new
system, however, the weather will be a slight problem for
the students. Classes will be held during the hot weather.
As a commuter myself, it will be a discomfort for me. The
hot weather plus the smog from jeepneys and other
vehicles will make us perspire, unless you have a private
air-conditioned vehicle of your own. Eventually that sweat
left in our back will dry up and could possibly give us
pneumonia. All of that, of course, will not happen if you
have an extra shirt or towel to dry yourself up. Students
should just be prepared for whatever weather.
Lastly, there will also be a change in the universities
schedule in terms of academics. Internships, entrance
exams, and board exams are some of the important
concerns due to the change within the school calendar.
Organization problems will have to be solved as well.
Everything will have to adjust. The universities have not
made any statements regarding the concerns. For sure,
they are preparing all these changes and figuring out how
to deal with the concerns stated. After all, colleges will not
start until August.
All of these changes will improve our universities
statistics and rankings. We obviously need the help from
ASEAN. We can improve our researches and other
educational matters if we work together with other

countries. Other countries such as Singapore, which has


the highest rank of university in Southeast Asia, achieve
such high education because of their advance curricula.
With the same schedule, we can exchange ideas and
techniques concerning education and researches. Just like
in one of the Beatles song, well get by with a little help
from our friends.

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