Who would ever have imagined it! My whole life, school always began in June and ended in March. But starting 2014, some schools will be shifting academic calendar by beginning in August and ending in May.
The first to announce the change is the University of the Philippines, which will implement the new academic calendar with the 2014-15 school year in the following constituent units: UP Manila, UP Los Baños, UP Baguio, UP Visayas (all campuses: Iloilo, Miag-ao, and Tacloban), UP Open University, and UP Cebu, according to this Rappler article. But did you notice the list still hasn’t included UP Diliman (UPD)? It appears more consultation is needed with UPD’s stakeholders, which they will be doing in the coming weeks.
Ateneo de Manila University will follow suit starting with the 2015 academic calendar (but only for Loyola Schools and Professional Schools). One of my kids will still reach this new academic calendar on his last year in Loyola Schools.
I heard both UP President Alfredo Pascual and Ateneo Pres. Fr. Jett Villarin, SJ this morning on a TV newscast and it seems that the general reason why they are shifting is to be aligned with the global academic calendar. That seems like a practical move since these schools have many exchange students and overseas programs. It bodes well to align with the academic calendars of the rest of the world. But of course, it’s not that easy. There are many things on school calendars that will be affected. The effect of sizzling, humid summers on the quality of learning is also something we will still have to see and monitor.
Since UP is implementing it this year, it looks like incoming freshmen will have an extra long summer vacation! Ateneo still has one year to observe the transition of UP and maybe tweak their own academic calendar before their 2015 implementation.
Which schools will also follow suit and when will they start their new academic calendar? Wait and see!
Any parents here whose kids will be affected? What do you think? Will this change be good or not? Let me know your thoughts.