Manila City allows students, teachers to wear comfortable clothes amid extreme heat

The Division of City Schools of Manila has allowed teachers and students to wear comfortable clothes amid the sweltering heat in campuses.

According to Division Memorandum No. 123, series of 2024, the office said, "Teachers and students can wear more comfortable clothing aside from their regular uniforms to reduce the heat they feel while inside the schools."

With this, public school employees in the city were reminded to follow appropriate clothing in the workplace as stated under Civil Service Commission Memorandum Circular No. 19, Series of 2000 as violation of this rule would be grounds for disciplinary action.

Principals of schools in Manila City were likewise reminded of their authority to suspend or shift to other learning modalities, based on their assessment of the situation in their areas.

"Schools are reminded that face-to-face classes must, at all times, be the default modality, except on extreme cases. While School Principals have the authority over class programming, you are reminded of your accountability with learning outcomes," read the memorandum issued on Monday.

"On exceptional cases where suspension of the face-to-face classes or shifting to asynchronous modality is best [the] resolve, the Office reiterates that the shift in modality is within the Authority, Responsibility, and Accountability of the School Principals," it added.

Classes in Caloocan

Meanwhile, Caloocan City Mayor Along Malapitan announced that public schools in the city's jurisdiction will impose blended learning for afternoon classes in all levels due to extreme heat.

"Sa pakikipag-ugnayan po ng Pamahalaang Lungsod ng Caloocan at ng Caloocan Schools Division Office, ipapatupad po natin ang BLENDED LEARNING (ALTERNATIVE DELIVERY MODES) para sa panghapong klase sa lahat ng antas ng mga pampublikong paaralan ng lungsod dahil sa inaasahang matinding init ng panahon," Malapitan wrote in a Facebook post.

Blended learning, however, will not cover Grade 6 students who are taking the National Achievement Test.

For private schools, Malapitan said that it will be up to their school administrators to either suspend or impose synchronous or asynchronous classes.

On Monday, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT)-National Capital Region Union said that their survey found that 77% of  public school teachers in Metro Manila could no longer bear the extreme heat in classrooms.

ACT-NCR said that in the online survey it conducted last month, teachers were asked to describe the temperature inside the classroom during this dry season. Majority (77%) voted "hindi matiis ang init" (unbearable heat), while 22.8% said it was "katamtamang init" (moderate heat).

Of those polled, 87% admitted that the stifling heat in classrooms adversely affected the focus of students during class hours.

An "alarming" 87% of teachers also said they had students with existing medical conditions such as asthma and allergies, which could be aggravated by the hot weather.

In March, the Department of Education said that the school heads can decide on their own if face-to-face classes need to be suspended in their respective schools due to the extreme heat brought about by the El Niño phenomenon.

DepEd Assistant Secretary Francis Bringas earlier said that students and teachers could also wear more comfortable clothing aside from their regular uniforms to reduce the heat they feel while inside the schools. — VDV, GMA Integrated News