With the crisis in the Middle East between the United States and Iran, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. announced that starting March 9, 2026, government offices will now implement the temporary four-day workweek as part of the government efforts to conserve energy. He also ordered government offices to find ways to conserve energy in case global prices surge due to the tensions between the US-Israel joint operation against Iran’s regime.
While the four-day work week only applies to government offices, many schools are following suit by implementing asynchronous classes on Fridays to help students and parents cope with the rising fuel prices. The goal of this policy is to reduce electricity and fuel usage amid rising costs.
However, this raises the question of effectiveness and the impact of the global crisis on the Philippine education system. In the 2024 Global Knowledge Index, the Philippines ranked 71st out of 141 countries. While the Department of Education has plans to improve the system, in reality, the four-day hybrid set-up risks exacerbating the existing learning gap that has already reached its critical level in early 2026.
The rise of fuel prices will cause a domino effect on the Philippine economy, making it hard for everyone, especially those who are in the marginalized sector and those who are barely making ends meet. The four-day class schedule may seem a burden to some, but in the middle of a global crisis and rising fuel prices, this is an effective short-term solution to lessen the expenses of the students and their families.
With classes affected by the global crisis, some challenges and sacrifices may arise, from the learning environment of students, the effectiveness of online learning and the overall academic impact on Philippine education.
By Jan Rica D. Negado, University of San Jose-Recoletos