The respite, which jibes with the first week of the regular two-week semestral vacation of students in colleges and universities, actually extends to nine days, including Oct. 29 (Saturday), 30 (Sunday), 31 (Monday earlier declared as a non-working holiday by President Arroyo), and Nov. 1 (Tuesday), a regular holiday.
Education Undersecretary for Regional Operations Ramon C. Bacani said regular classes will resume on Nov. 2 but will be cut short on Nov. 4 (Friday) for the celebration of Eidel Fit’r (Hari-raya), the end of the monthlong Muslim Ramadan, which was declared a national holiday three years ago.
Speaking in the absence of Education Undersecretary for Programs and DepEd officer-in-charge Fe A. Hidalgo who was on field visit in Mindanao last week, Bacani said the mid-school year break does not cover public school teachers and field education officials.
Bacani explained that as mandated by DepEd Order No. 9, series of 2005, the week-long period will be utilized by some 500,000 teachers and school administrators to attend scheduled inservice training programs in their respective stations.
The programs, he said, aim at helping upgrade the mentors’ instructional competencies and the supervisory and management skills of school administrators who include principals and head teachers.
The DepEd order also required the lower-echelon field school executives, including district supervisors, to review and assess their academic and non-academic activities and performance during the first half of the school year, Bacani said.
The school administrators were also instructed to conduct during the five-day respite necessary writeshops and learning module-making for teachers.
During the period, Bacani said, the DepEd order further directed principals, head teachers and district supervisors to undertake necessary planning for their supervisory and administrative activities for the second half of school year 2005-2006.
This will enhance the opportunity to attain academic excellence in their respective schools in pursuance to DepEd’s quest for quality basic education, he added.
To make their break functional and fruitful, the field school officials were tasked to prepare a realistic implementing plan for their various activities during the period.
According to Bacani, the order mandated the teachers to give their students necessary academic assignments, projects and homeworks to ensure that, even while outside school, they are still doing something positive for their educational advancement.
Bacani said that private elementary and secondary schools, depending on their individually prepared school year activities, may undertake similar academic endeavors so long as they comply with the prescribed 205 school days of the current school year.
