Move On or
Keep On?
(Shifting of Academic Calendar in the Philippines)
By: Gel Mozol
“Rain, rain go away
come again another day.” This must be the great lyrics that some of us would sing when the rain is
pouring. But seriously, it is true that some of us will sing it for the rain to
stop just to prevent any class suspension often occurred in the beginning of
academic class. This is often observed in the kind of academic calendar that
our country has.
South Korea, Thailand, Japan and other countries of the
Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN) are all the same when it comes
to their school academic calendars. Excluding them is the Philippines whom
often start the school class at mid June or July and end up at Mid March or
April.
Recently, University of the Philippines (UP) set a proposal
regarding the shifting of their academic calendar from June-March
schedule to August-May academic year
just like in other countries. It’s quite interesting to look beyond the
advantages of this proposal. Because as we noticed, the beginning of class in
our country is on June to July where rainy season is expected. If ever the
class calendar will be removed to mid August, we could avoid some unexpected
suspension of class due to heavy rain that anticipated in the month of June or
July. Hence, globally competitive students of UP can cross-enroll in other
countries without having interruption in their schedules. For some reason,
foreign exchange students could be more successful.
And if we would open our minds to this proposal, we could see
no wrong or right with it. Because whatever academic calendar we have, the
important thing is; our own country can produce competitive students, dedicated
teachers and quality education that all of us can be proud of.
Perhaps, having class in a rainy month is quite fun though!
“For the Lord goes
before you. He will never leave you nor forsake you; do not be afraid, do not
be discouraged.”
Deuteronomy 31:8
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