Order removing teachers' admin tasks out Friday - VP Sara

The Department of Education (DepEd) will release on Friday an order directing public schools to relieve teachers of their administrative tasks, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte announced Thursday.

In her presentation of the second Basic Education Report, Duterte said 5,000 more administrative personnel will be hired in 2024, and additional funds for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) will be given to schools for recruitment.

“We have always expressed our intention to remove administrative tasks from our teachers. After holding several consultations with our field personnel, the Department Order on the Removal of Administrative Tasks for Teachers will be released tomorrow, and the corresponding strand memorandum will be released next week,” Duterte said.

“Let us bring our teachers back to the classrooms,” she added.

Asked in an ambush interview why the release of an official order took a while despite Duterte’s push for the removal of the teacher’s administrative tasks, DepEd spokesperson Undersecretary Michael Poa said, “Natatakot tayo na pagdating sa field, hindi talaga siya ma-implement effectively.”

(We were afraid that it would not be implemented effectively in the field.)

“So kaya tumagal ng konti kasi talagang pinlano namin na i-remove na talaga ang admin tasks, at kung ire-remove na talaga ang admin tasks, siyempre may pupuntahan ang task na ‘yun,” he continued.

(It took a while because we planned the removal of the administrative tasks thoroughly, and of course, when the administrative tasks are removed from teachers, they will go to someone else.)

There will be a transition period before the full implementation of the department order, Poa said.

“Will it be perfect kaagad from Day One? Of course, we know marami pa adjustments na kailangan na gawin but this is the start and hopefully ma-implement nang tama ang policy na ‘to,” he added.

(Will it be perfect immediately from Day One? Of course, we know there are still many adjustments that need to be made, but this is the start, and hopefully this policy will be implemented correctly.)

In August 2023, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) approved the creation of 5,000 non-teaching positions for the DepEd schools all over the country to provide “adequate manpower and support to educators in giving quality instruction to learners.”

Teachers’ benefits

Duterte further revealed that DepEd will also issue a policy on teaching overload pay to ensure that teachers are “rightfully compensated” for hours of actual classroom teaching beyond the 6-hour limit provided under the Magna Carta for teachers.

The DepEd chief also plans to propose the funding of overtime pay for teachers in the next national budget deliberations.

“We will also increase the cap for service credits. We will raise the cap from the current 15 days to at least 30 days,” she added.

The DepEd will also establish a calamity fund that will provide teachers and personnel with immediate financial assistance in times of disaster, Duterte said.

She will also “fervently move” for the amendment of an administrative order that will allow the provision of health insurance to teachers and non-teaching personnel.

“Sa ating mga mahal na guro at mga kawani, hindi po kami titigil sa paghahanap ng mga paraan at paglalatag ng mga polisiya upang tugunan ang mga isyu ukol sa net take-home pay ninyo,” Duterte added.

(To our dear teachers and staff, we will not stop finding ways and laying down policies to address your net take-home pay issues.) — VBL, GMA Integrated News