State universities, colleges urged to begin academic calendars in August

MANILA — The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) is urging all government-run universities and colleges to begin academic years every August.

In a memorandum dated April 5, CHEd chairman Prospero de Vera III called for a “shift of academic calendar” of both state universities and colleges (SUCs) and local universities and colleges (LUCs) to begin in August of every year starting 2019.

Schools “are enjoined to synchronize its respective academic years to a fiscal year (FY) starting FY 2019 to ensure that starting FY 2020, all SUCs and LUCs have synchronized their academic year to a fiscal year,” part of the memo read.

The memorandum was said to be pursuant to provisions of Higher Education Act of 1994 (Republic Act 7722) and Commission En Banc Resolution No. 142-2019.

The reason for the shift was not yet clear in the memo.

The University of the Philippines System, along with De La Salle University, University of Santo Tomas, and Ateneo de Manila University, in previous years already shifted the start of their academic calendar from June to later months to integrate with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).