The graduation and moving up exercises for school year 2020-2021 will be on July 12 to 16, Ian Arnold Arnaez, Department of Education Negros Occidental spokesperson, said Tuesday, June 29.
There will be no actual graduation and moving up ceremonies because of the ban on face to face interaction with students, he said.
However, virtual graduations and moving up ceremonies may be held in areas where there is adequate Internet connectivity, he said.
Arnaez said making students go out to have their pictures taken for yearbooks is being discouraged because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Some students who are not graduating will be given time to submit their modules beyond July 12 to 16, he said.
That is because in some areas the distribution and collection of student modules were delayed, he said.
In areas with high cases of COVID-19 some mayors ordered the halt in the distribution or retrieval of modules for from one to two weeks as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19, he said.
It is not certain when the new school year will start, under the law it should be in the last Monday of August but President Rodrigo Duterte has the authority to move it to a later date depending on the situation, Arnaez said.
Teachers are clamoring for the opening to be postponed to give them a longer break, he said.
It is being proposed that the new school year should start on the first or second week of September instead, but that will depend on the decision of the president, Arnaez said.*