Education Secretary Leonor Briones announced on Tuesday that the opening of classes, whether physical or virtual, would be moved from June to Aug. 24.

The Department of Education (DepEd) will implement learning through its free-to-access online platform DepEd commons, Briones said in an online briefing.

Briones said the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases would decide how classes would be conducted during quarantine periods, should there be conflict with the school calendar.

Other national events, such as Palarong Pambansa, the National Schools Press Conference and National Festival of Talents, were cancelled as precaution.

The school year will end on April 30, 2021.

Meanwhile, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he would still push for Senate Bill No. 1438, which aims to amend Section 3 of the Republic Act No. 7977 or the Act on Lengthening of School Calendar, which states that the school year “shall start on the first Monday of June but not later than the last day of August.”

It also seeks to grant President Rodrigo Duterte the authority to move the schedule of opening of classes. John Ezekiel J. Hirro