THE SECOND Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) has warned that blanket class suspension orders may be worsening the country’s learning crisis, particularly among young learners, by closing schools that are not directly affected by hazardous conditions.

In a newly released policy note, The Hidden Cost of Class Suspensions: How Blanket Orders Could Deepen the Learning Crisis, researchers found that widespread class suspensions are associated with lower early-grade reading performance across more than 37,000 public elementary schools.

The study, authored by University of Auckland PhD candidate Tristan Piosang, EDCOM 2 Executive Director Dr. Karol Mark Yee, and former NEDA Secretary Dr. Karl Kendrick Chua, analyzed class closures during School Years 2024–2025 and 2025–2026.

Preliminary findings showed that a typical school’s exposure to class suspensions was associated with a 0.10-standard-deviation decline in reading attainment, equivalent to about 24 teaching days of learning progress among Grades 1 to 3 learners.

With an average of 17 suspended school days in the analysis, the researchers estimated that learners lose about 1.4 days of reading progress for every day classes are suspended.

Yee stressed that the findings do not argue against suspending classes during genuine emergencies.

“Safety must always come first. But safety and precision are not competing objectives. Schools that are safe should be allowed to remain open or resume as soon as possible,” he said.

The policy note said a typical public elementary school lost around 20 teaching days to hazard-related suspensions in SY 2025–2026, equivalent to about one in every 10 school days.

From August 1 to September 15, 2026, 12 of 28 class days were cancelled across Metro Manila and several provinces, disrupting 43 percent of scheduled classes during the first academic term.

The study noted that while typhoons, monsoon rains, and shear lines account for most suspensions, province-wide and region-wide orders often close schools even in areas experiencing little or no severe weather.

EDCOM 2 said the impact is greatest among Grades 1 to 3 learners, whose reading skills are foundational and who rely heavily on classroom instruction.

At the start of SY 2026–2027, about 86 percent of public school learners covered by the analysis, or around 4.3 million students, were not yet reading at grade level.

Piosang said the effects of disasters extend beyond missed lessons, as damaged homes, disrupted livelihoods, and community displacement can continue to affect learning long after schools reopen.

The commission urged the government to amend Executive Order No. 66 to allow more localized and science-based decisions on class suspensions.

Among its recommendations are expanding automatic suspension criteria beyond typhoon signals, allowing governors and mayors to suspend classes only in affected areas, and empowering school heads to suspend or resume classes based on actual conditions on their campuses.

Chua said every cancelled school day should be supported by evidence and weighed against its consequences for learning, adding that unnecessary suspensions in safe schools represent avoidable learning losses.