00:00The current basic education school calendar is divided into four quarters.
00:06The Department of Education or DepEd is pushing for a shift to a trimester system for school year 2026-2027,
00:14which was discussed during a hearing of the House Committee on Basic Education and Culture.
00:19The proposed aims to provide longer and more flexible teaching periods,
00:23each teacher's workload, and improve the quality of education through better organization of school year.
00:30This is based on the findings of the 2nd Congressional Commission on Education or EDCOM 2.
00:35Under the trimester system, the school year will be divided into three academic terms
00:41with longer period of instruction and enrichment activities to ensure continuous delivery of lessons.
00:47The 201 school days will be distributed across three terms.
00:51Each term will have two-week breaks allotted for lesson planning, grade computation, and other professional tasks of teachers.
00:59DepEd is also promoting low-disruption alternatives,
01:02where celebration and observances will be integrated into lessons
01:06instead of holding separate programs that interrupt classes.
01:10Remedial classes for students who show gaps in learning competencies,
01:15such as reading comprehension and mathematics, will also be scheduled during the two-week break.
01:20Committee Chair Roman Romolo, though opposed to integrating remedial classes, into regular academic calendar.
01:27But then, during the regular class, nandun pa rin siya sa class na hindi naman niya pala reading comprehension ready.
01:35So, yung bata, you will still ask the learner to remain in that class na hindi naman niya naintindihan.
01:42Yes po. Currently, they also remain in the class.
01:45Correct. So, that is what you have to fix.
01:47Hindi yung magdadagdag ng two weeks para sa remediation.
01:51Sana yun ang gawin nyo.
01:52Tapos yung two-week break, talagang two-week break.
01:54Because kung hindi, kawawa yung estudyante.
01:57He said remediation should instead be conducted during the summer break.
02:02Various teacher groups urged the committee to further examine and study whether the trimester system
02:08would truly improve students' learning competencies and each teacher's workload.
02:13Aside from trimester system, the committee also discussed ensuring the qualification of students
02:19entering senior high school and college.
02:22One of the recommendations also includes putting a pre-grade 11 assessment
02:27to check for literacy requirements of students so that they can fully maximize grade 11.
02:33Adcom 2 Executive Director Carl Marquis suggested including this in the Tesla Charter update.
02:39A group representing private schools also requested the removal of duplicate examinations for college entry,
02:46proposing instead a single national college entrance exam.
02:49But I hope we can take a look at how to have concerted effort of not having duplication,
02:56just like there would be honors exam and then there would be the university exam
03:01and then there might be other exams before the child could see if they are qualified.
03:05Meanwhile, the Classroom Construction Acceleration Program has been approved by the Basic Education and Culture Committee.
03:12The measure authorized local government units and private sector
03:16to construct classrooms using appropriated funds.
03:20This comes as the classroom backlog has exceeded $195,000 and could reach more than $200,000.
03:27During the hearing, it was discussed that isolated schools and provinces with urgent classroom prepare needs
03:33will be prioritized to reduce class-shifting schedules.
03:37TESA also requested additional training facilities as part of the Philippine Education Plan.
03:42The goal is to equip students with future-ready skills aligned with the employment opportunities.
03:48VEL Pustodio for the National TV Network for a new and better Philippines.
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