24/03/2026
๐ก๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ โ๐ง๐ฟ๐โ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟโ
DepEd made an announcement that the public school curriculum will shift into a 3-term calendar system next school year. Officials claim it will lessen fragmentation and promote learning. Some lawmakers call it a step forward. On paper, it sounds like a strong solution. In reality, it addresses none of the issues.
โKahit anong school calendar pa yan kung kulang ang silid-aralan, g**o, personnel at pasilidad, at kung gutom ang mga estudyante, mananatiling atrasado ang kalidad ng edukasyon.โ said the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Chairperson, Ruby Bernardo in a post on Facebook. She stated her frustration that any reform of the school calendar would not change the fact that the quality of education depends on the quality of the learning environment for the students.
Step into any public school and the numbers of students will hit you hard. One teacher handles at most of 50 students in a classroom built for only 30. Desks jammed together, cruddy classrooms, noise is more prominent than the wind from the electric fans. Teachers deal with this chaos every single day. A trimester cannot shrink class sizes or give students the attention they need.
There also aren't more than enough resources to go around. According to DepEd data from 2023, only 60 percent of schools have complete textbooks for the main core subjects. School supplies, computers, and other teaching aids are missing most of the time, resulting to teachers needing to improvise or skip lessons entirely just because of the lack of aid given to them.
The plan assumes that longer timeline blocks will help improve student learning. Yet learning itself is about the conditions in which students sit and teachers work. Without the proper support, materials, or manageable workloads, students will still fall behind and teachers will be too stressed.
Consultation is another problem here, teachers say they were barely asked what they thought about what's happening. ACTโs Raymond Balce pointed out that decisions are made at the top while teachers handle the consequences. If we really want to see real reform, it requires listening to the people on the ground. Otherwise everything will go to waste.
Year after year, programs roll out promising more with less. Students still struggle with basic literacy and numeracy due to the lack of proper teaching materials and conditions to properly help them to learn.
I see the trimester system as just a new distraction that disguises itself like an action. It reads like reform, yet it does not address what matters: overcrowded classrooms, underpaid teachers, and missing resources. If education is to improve, the focus must shift from schedules to support.
If DepEd wants the trimester to matter, it must focus on what really is needed. Hire more teachers, expand classrooms, provide training, and reduce administrative burdens. Otherwise, the โnew and improvedโ system will be new only in name, and students and teachers will still carry the same burdens forward. Continuing to be a so called, "Bandaid Solution."
๐ : ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป ๐ ๐ถ๐ด๐๐ฒ๐น ๐ฅ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐๐ฒ๐
โ๏ธ : ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น ๐๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ถ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ผ๐พ๐๐ฒ
