CLEMELLE L. MONTALLANA,DM, CESE
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR III DIRECTOR
PHYSICAL PLANT, FACILITIES
Here and now it’s time to go back and reclaim our lives,
woke from hibernation and face the future without fear.
Without further ado and without turning back, the School year 2022-2023 will start on August 22 and will end on July 7, 2023, the Department of Education (DepEd) announced on Tuesday.
On its Facebook page, DepEd said it has issued Order No. 34 which outlines the school calendar and activities for the school year 2022-2023. In the order, DepEd said it issued the school calendar “in accordance with its commitment to the resumption of 5 days in-person classes despite the health crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1626376/school-year-2022-2023-to-start-august-22-deped#ixzz7c9BWD5X0
The Commission on Higher Education issued a statement published in Manila Bulletin; In a virtual presser, CHED Chairman Popoy De Vera explained that the existing policy of the commission allows public and private HEIs to decide whether or not they will offer in-person classes following the easing of public health restrictions. Chairperson De Veyra said that “We cannot have face-to-face for all degree programs because the degree programs are constructed differently, and also because many schools have gone ahead with online learning even before the pandemic,” De Vera explained. Many HEIs, he added, also invested in flexible learning options — thus, they should be allowed to decide the learning modalities that they will implement in the coming academic year.
The contrast here is made possible by the fact that the Commission on Higher Education recognizes the sovereignty of the Chartered Universities, State Universities, and Autonomous Universities which has governing boards and are vested with policy and decision-making power. The Department of Education on the other hand is a huge agency with bureaucratic and policy decision-making vested in the Central Office. Thus, the contrast is remarkable, and to come up with a comparison conclusive as it should, we need to get to know the realities and legalities on the ground and in the organizational structures.
Be that as it may, the easing of safety protocols had put everyone and everything in the Pre Pandemic Realities. And that schools will actually be bustling with students and teachers, public utility vehicles will be laden with commuters, and ultimately our businesses will command a logical increase in transactions, for sure the whole gamut and breadth of commercial and economic activities will be upward and will heat up to some extent , bigger, hotter and busier than before.
One thing that should not be overlooked is the readiness of the school to welcome our students and pupils. The Brigada Eskwela had created a major preparation frenzy nationwide and in the Higher Education Institutions repairs and taking care of instructional spaces are also in a frenzy, albeit sans the fanfare nor the announcements.
For me, all of these are answering the undeniable need to go back to school and lift the stigma of the country’s long-standing lockdown which is world famous for its sustained length and personally a ridiculous waste of time. Here and now it’s time to go back and reclaim our lives, woke from hibernation and face the future without fear .
