AROUND nine in ten Filipinos prefer that schools return to the June to March academic calendar, a survey by Social Weather Stations (SWS) released on Thursday has found. 

Conducted from June 28 to July 1, the survey, which involved 1,500 adult respondents, indicated that 89% chose the June to March academic year while 10% picked the September to June period. 

One percent of the respondents did not give any preference. 

Schools began implementing an August or September start of classes since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Now that the threat of COVID-19 has substantially gone down, there have been calls for the government to revert to the June–March school year to allow students to avoid the scorching summer heat in the months of April and May.

A separate poll by Pulse Asia from June 19 to 23 showed that 80% of the 1,200 respondents agreed that the students’ school break should fall in the months of April and May.

Meanwhile, 50% of Filipinos were dissatisfied with the K–12 program, while 39% said they were satisfied.

Nine percent said they were undecided, and two percent indicated they did not have enough knowledge of the program to give an opinion.