The Department of Education (DepEd) on Tuesday released its amended school calendar amid its gradual shift back to the pre-pandemic April-May school break.

According to DepEd Order No. 3, series of 2024 dated Feb. 19, the “adjusted end of the school year (SY) shall be May 31, 2024.”

The DepEd urged schools to conduct all end-of-school-year rites from May 29 to 31, as the school break is set from June 1 to July 26.

Moreover, the start of the SY 2024-2025 is set for July 29 which will then end on May 16, 2025.

Besides this, the DepEd also reminded schools that they are not allowed to give teachers all forms of assignments for the entire June.

“No voluntary or mandatory tasks or activities shall be assigned to teachers from June 1 to 30,” the DO reads.

The said adjustments were made in response to the petitions to gradually revert the school calendar to a pre-pandemic setup, as well as the results of consultations with various stakeholders and a study conducted by the Philippine Normal University (PNU).

The PNU’s study, titled “Analysis of the Basic Education School Year Calendar of the Philippines: Inputs to Policy,” compared different basic education school calendars in Asia, and included a survey of public and private school Filipino teachers.

DepEd Undersecretary Spokesperson Michael Poa told reporters in a Viber message that by 2026, the start of the school year would have inched closer to pre-pandemic times.

“Sa plano ng DepEd by SY 2026-2027, mid-June na po ang pasukan at by the first week of April ay simula na po ang school break (Based on DepEd’s plan by SY 2026-2027, the start of classes will be by mid-June and the first week of April will be the start of school break),” he said.

Earlier, the DepEd said it will take three school years to transition back to the April-May break. (PNA)