New school calendar may cause problems in holding polls —Comelec

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday said the changing of the school calendars of some universities might cause problems in the holding of national and local polls.

 

Elections are usually held in May, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez noted.

Nat'l & Local Elections are always held on the 2nd Monday of May, in schools. So if academic calendar changes cover public schools, problem.

— James Jimenez (@jabjimenez) February 10, 2014

 

Jimenez said that among the possible problems would be the venue as public schools may be used by students for the classes at that time.

 

“How about preparing the venues (voting centers)? And the clean-up after? What about the schools used as canvassing centers? All in all, there will really be disruption of classes,” Jimenez said.

 

Jimenez is hoping these would be considered by those advocating for a shift in the school calendar.

 

“Why put us in that situation to begin with? In other words, it is a reminder that there are other factors—not just the immediate apparent—that need to be considered,” he added in an interview.

 

Last week, University of the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila University have announced they will adopt the August to May schedule for their academic calendar. 

 

The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP), a grouping of Catholic educational institutions in the Philippines, said the University of Santo Tomas, De La Salle University, and Adamson University are also considering shifting to the August to May schedule to follow the schedule of overseas institutions. 

 

Such a shift is seen as a move in support of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) integration in 2015. —KG, GMA News