Back to June

The outside temperature sensor in my car early Thursday afternoon read 41 degrees Celsius. True enough, as I disembarked from the air-conditioned cabin in the parking lot, I felt the hot air rush in like opening the door of a preheated oven.

This brings back a contrasting memory from several years ago during my teenage years, when summertime at this time of year was spent outdoors playing soccer or climbing trees, taking naps at the top of a santol tree in a crude treehouse my cousin and I built ourselves. Contrasting, because back then, there was a cool breeze that balanced the scorching afternoon sun. All you needed was to move around to feel the wind or perch on top of trees, relishing the long summer break.

These days, college students are still in school, enduring hot classrooms, or if facilities are air-conditioned, enduring the commute and time spent outside in humid, oven-hot weather, with nary a breeze to offer relief from the midday sun.

That is why it was such a relief to read in the news the other day that public schools will officially revert to the traditional June opening starting this coming school year. Elementary and high school students will finally be able to enjoy their summer breaks and, more importantly, escape the sweltering conditions in their classrooms during this time of year.

Tertiary schools, or those at the college level, meanwhile, remain stuck in the so-called international academic calendar that runs from August to May. This calendar shift from the traditional June to March schedule actually began with the University of the Philippines in 2014. Not long after, Ateneo de Manila University and other institutions like De La Salle University and University of Santo Tomas followed suit. While I’d like to believe that UP administrators had the best minds and intentions behind the calendar shift, especially with internationalization in mind, I would say they made a big mistake.

In fact, based on an SWS survey in 2023, about nine in every 10 Filipinos prefer the old school calendar that begins in June and ends in March, according to a report by PhilStar.com. The poll did not make a distinction between basic and higher education.

More importantly, we now realize both the economic wisdom and climatic wisdom behind choosing the June-to-March school calendar. According to my research, this calendar was adopted by our then American colonizers in the early 1900s for two main reasons: first, to accommodate the planting and harvest seasons when children were often needed to help their families in the fields during April and May; and second, to avoid the hottest and driest months of the year.

Indeed, as shown by the drawbacks of shifting to the August-to-May calendar, holding classes during the cooler (though rainy) months from June to February was seen as more practical. For religious reasons as well, it makes sense to observe Holy Week without being in the middle of a school term.

Hopefully, 2025 will be the year we come full circle on the school calendar and rediscover the logic of the June-to-March cycle that had been in place for over a century. We need to protect students from the extreme summer heat, especially now that climate change is making summers hotter than ever.

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I’d like to share what I posted on my social media page about the death of His Holiness Pope Francis. I wrote that when I heard the news about the death of Pope Francis last Monday, strangely, the image of Pope Benedict XVI came to mind. I told myself, “Thank you, Pope Benedict, for giving us Pope Francis.” Pope Benedict stepped aside so that we could have Pope Francis. He recognized the call of the times, felt the pulse of the Lord, and understood that someone like Pope Francis was what the world needed.

Indeed, true leaders know when they are called to serve. And when that moment comes, they rise to it with presence and purpose. But more importantly, they also know when to step aside with grace, so that others may lead.

In this election period in the country, it helps to be reminded that titles mean little if one does not rise to the occasion and prove worthy of the responsibility. No amount of glory can replace the wisdom to act at the right time.

Thank you, Pope Francis, for embracing the calling with grace! Thank you, Pope Benedict, for recognizing the moment and responding with courage!