IN the Academic Year (AY) 2023 to 2024, UST shifted to the enhanced virtual mode or suspended classes altogether for 28 school days. The bulk of these suspensions were caused by inclement weather and transport strikes.
A new reason, however, has emerged in the past year: extreme heat. Dangerous levels of heat index – ranging between 45ºC and 48ºC – forced local governments to cancel in-person classes on multiple occasions.
According to a Varsitarian analysis that tracked all class suspensions at UST since AY 2017 to 2018, five school days in April were disrupted by the intense heat. In the previous six years, high temperatures had never led the University to cancel classes.
Typically, class suspensions are caused by heavy rain, due to the Philippines lying within the “typhoon belt,” a region highly susceptible to typhoons, the country’s topography, and the effects of La Niña.
Previously, suspensions during the peak of the dry season only affected college students, as schools offering basic education adhered to the June to March academic calendar. The Covid-19 pandemic, however, scrambled this system, and now, the Department of Education (DepEd) is reverting to the old school calendar beginning in 2025.
In April, the government’s Task Force El Niño urged LGUs to exercise their authority to suspend face-to-face classes if the rising temperatures posed risks to students and teachers.
“Kung hindi po talaga viable at hindi na po talaga advisable na tumungo pa sa mga classroom ang ating mga kabataan, pati ang ating mga teacher, ay mag-shift na po tayo sa online classes,” Joey Villarama, the task force’s spokesperson, said during a briefing.
The unpredictability and frequency of class suspensions challenge educators to remain adaptable to ensure uninterrupted student learning, bringing the nation’s educational infrastructure into the spotlight.
Assoc. Prof. Marishirl Tropicales, the principal of the UST Junior High School, attributed the rise of distance learning to the reason why class suspensions don’t significantly impact the school calendar.
“In the era of hybrid learning and teaching, class suspensions are opportunities for us to show flexibility in our instruction,” she told the Varsitarian. “For instance, in disruptions like transport strikes and extreme heat, we still adopt distance learning where our learners participate in synchronous and asynchronous sessions.”
Frequent phenomenon
UST lost 42 regular school days during the pandemic-hit AY 2019 to 2020, according to the Varsitarian’s analysis. Other disruptive causes included inclement weather, earthquakes and the celebration of National Family Week.
Strong typhoons remained the leading cause of class suspensions, as España Boulevard, where the UST Sampaloc campus is located, remains prone to deep flooding. In AY 2017 to 2018, seven out of 20 suspended days were due to inclement weather, and the following year, it accounted for five out of eight days.
In AY 2020 to 2021, with Thomasians confined to their homes for online classes, UST canceled 14 school days due to intermittent internet connection caused by heavy rains.
When the government introduced the jeepney modernization program in 2017, critics responded with regular transport strikes. As a result, UST suspended classes for four days in AY 2017 to 2018. Since the return of in-person classes in 2022 until the end of AY 2023 to 2024, the University had shifted to EVM for 15 days to avoid inconveniencing commuting students.
The government think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) revealed even more alarming data: in public schools last year, 53 out of 180 teaching days were lost due to calamities, non-teaching tasks, local holidays, off-class activities, and conflict. This accounted for about 30 percent of the entire school calendar, leaving “very limited time to absorb the lessons,” according to Karol Mark Yee, executive director of the Second Congressional Commission on Education, in June.
For Asst. Prof. Louie Dasas, assistant dean of the College of Education, the most immediate effect of class suspensions is the disruption of learning and teaching momentum.
“While there may not have been solid literature saying that it’s affecting really academic performance, we would say that time loss is learning loss,” he told the Varsitarian. “‘Pag nawala ‘yong oras, nawala rin ‘yong pagkatuto.”
Dasas underscored that unexpected cancellations create a “disequilibrium” in a teacher’s lesson plan, which is typically designed for the entire semester.
“[T]here are some experiences that I had to squeeze into a limited time,” the assistant dean said. “I had to schedule makeup classes. Our laboratory classes also had to consider other options for lab activities given na ito na lang ‘yong oras. Make-up classes may be a little difficult to schedule kasi when you do make-up, estudyante, faculty [at] facility ‘yong […] cino-consider.”
Extreme heat has posed severe challenges this year as the El Niño phenomenon exacerbated the situation. Metro Manila reached a record high heat index of 45ºC, classified as “danger” level, on April 27, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
The heat index, formally known as the human discomfort index, measures the temperature the human body feels when relative humidity is mixed with air temperature.
To make matters worse, Pagasa has forecasted that the La Niña phenomenon could develop between October and December and likely persist until the first quarter of 2025, bringing stronger typhoons because of warmer ocean temperatures.
Distance learning
Educators emphasized the prevalence of online tools like learning management systems and virtual teleconference platforms to maintain continuity in education despite disruptions.
“Marami tayong magagamit na mga external application or mga external feature na makakatulong sa learning strategies natin,” Katherine Garcia, an instructor of the UST Department of Chemistry, told the Varsitarian.
Dasas said UST has developed a strong educational infrastructure to support distance learning.
However, a challenge arises for schools lacking the infrastructure to implement effective distance learning. Lawyer Maya Jajalla, a legal associate at the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities, noted that schools, roads, and transportation are not “climate-proof” to withstand the intense heat and severe typhoons affecting the Philippines.
“[C]urrently, our infrastructure is not climate-proof,” she told the Varsitarian. “But if you climate-proof the schools, you also need to climate-proof the roads, because even if the school is climate-proof, students can’t get there if the roads and our transport system aren’t climate-proof as well.”
UST’s education delivery heavily relies on learning management systems. After a two-decade run with Blackboard, the University transitioned to Canvas in AY 2023 to 2024. These systems are essential for conducting synchronous online classes, managing asynchronous sessions, handling class deliverables, and more.
The Office of the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs (OVRAA) issued a memorandum dated April 30 outlining its “continuity plan” during the peak of high temperatures. The plan included pushing through with in-person classes, given that all classrooms are air-conditioned, and encouraging faculty members to prepare new learning materials for a potential shift to EVM.
The availability of multiple modes of instruction highlights the advancements of 21st-century education, according to Maria Eloisa Clarice de Guzman, the coordinator of Grades 7 and 8 students at the UST Education High School.
“We expect students to adapt doon sa bago nating techniques, like ‘yong mga modality na ito sa ibang bansa, kasi ito na ‘yong nama-maximize nila: ‘yong paggamit ng mga application, paggamit ng mga bagong LMS,” she told the Varsitarian.
While UST benefits from such infrastructure, public educational institutions do not. A 2022 PIDS report indicated that delays in delivering computers to schools and unreliable internet connection in many parts of the country are caused by “public investment problems.”
“Philippine schools have low computer access rates and low internet access rates unlike many of its neighboring countries, which had already achieved for their schools universal access to computers and universal access to the internet,” the report, titled “School Infrastructure in the Philippines: Where Are We Now and Where Should We Be Heading?” stated.
Forward-thinking
The government, educators stressed, cannot constantly suspend classes because of natural phenomena, which is why there must be a greater focus on making facilities adaptable to the effects of climate change.
“[W]e have to do foresight,” Dasas said. “Alam natin na may init. How do we decongest classrooms? How do we put infrastructure that would allow for better ventilation? How do we make our classrooms resilient to typhoons among others? Hindi ‘yong lagi tayong nagsu-suspend lang.”
However, building climate-ready school facilities is easier said than done.
Previously, suspensions during the peak of the dry season only affected college students, as schools offering basic education adhered to the June to March academic calendar. The Covid-19 pandemic, however, scrambled this system, and now, the Department of Education is reverting to the old school calendar beginning in 2025.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., in his second State of the Nation Address last year, vowed to retrofit schools to withstand strong typhoons and high temperatures.
“Aside from new construction [of classrooms], schools and facilities are being retrofitted to be ready for the future – ready for hybrid and high-tech learning and also climate-ready and disaster-proof,” he said.
DepEd Order 6, issued in 2021, listed the technical requirements for building climate-resilient school buildings, which include constructing classrooms that can fit accommodate up to 50 students, five-meter wide stairwells for easier evacuation during emergencies, roof slabs with metal decking, and storm shutters.
The environmental group Stewards and Volunteers for the Earth Philippines (Save Philippines) said schools must transition to renewable energy to keep the youth protected from the adverse effects of climate change.
“As youth are directly affected by the worsening climate crisis and inheritors of whatever world is left for us, we must also take action and demand the government and institutions to curb all destructive programs and policies and transition to renewable energy,” Zyoen Garcia, head of Save Philippines, told in an interview with Philstar.com in January.
However, even building simple classrooms has become a herculean task. Vice President Sara Duterte, when she was still DepEd secretary, reported that the agency only achieved 3,673 out of the target 6,379 new rooms in 2023.
“We have made progress, but clearly, this is not enough,” Duterte said during the second DepEd Basic Education Report in January.
