Commissioned survey shows most Filipinos want summer break back to April

Eight out of 10 Filipinos are in favor of bringing back students’ summer vacation to April and May, a Pulse Asia survey commissioned by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian showed.

The study conducted from June 19 to 23 showed that 80% of its 1,200 respondents nationwide answered "agree" to the question of whether they "agree or disagree with the return of the students’ summer break to the months of April and May."

The 80% results were averaged from the responses in the National Capital Region (81%), Luzon (73%), Visayas (90%), and Mindanao (86%).

Among socioeconomic groups, the proposal to bring back the April and May summer vacation gets strong support from classes ABC with 83%, D with 81%, and E with 75%.

The survey result also showed that 11% answered "cannot say" if they agree or disagree and only 8% said they "disagree."

The study has a ±2.8% margin of error at the 95% confidence level.

“Malinaw ang boses ng ating mga kababayan na nais nilang ibalik ang bakasyon ng mga mag-aaral sa buwan ng Abril at Mayo,” Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate committee on basic education, said.

“Bagama’t hindi magiging madali ang pagbabalik ng dating school calendar, magsasagawa tayo ng pagdinig upang pag-aralan nang husto ang mga hakbang para itaguyod ang kapakanan ng ating mga guro at mga mag-aaral,” he added.

In March, Gatchalian said it’s high time to bring back the April to May summer vacation.

Following this, Gatchalian has filed proposed Senate Resolution 672 which seeks to determine if there is a need to revert to the original school calendar or to continue with the current schedule where classes are being held during summer.

The Senate inquiry being sought by Gatchalian aims to re-evaluate the critical factors to determine the school opening.

Last Congress, Gatchalian led the passage of Republic Act 11480 which allowed the Department of Education to move the opening of School Year 2020 to 2021 to october 5,2020 amid the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.

RA 11480 has amended Section 3 of Republic No. 7797, which provides that the school year shall start on the first Monday of June but not later than the last day of August. Republic Act No. 7797 also lengthened the school calendar from 200 days to not more than 220 days.

Under RA 11480, the president, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Education, may set a different date for the start of the school year in parts of or throughout the whole country in the event of a declaration of a state of emergency or state of calamity. —Hana Bordey/ VAL, GMA Integrated News