Teachers’ group urges DepEd: Pay for COVID-19 treatment

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — The teachers’ federation Assert has called on the Department of Education (DepEd) to create a medical treatment fund for teachers who will be infected with the novel coronavirus.

In a statement, Assert president James Pagaduan said, “there are schools that are requiring teachers to physically report to school, visit students who did not enroll, deliver modules and enrollment forms and attend meetings.”

He added: “It is the primary responsibility of the agency to ensure that its teachers are well taken care of and that its health conditions are looked after.”

Pagaduan made the remarks after Education Undersecretary for Finance Anne Sevilla was quoted as saying that the agency has no budget for the medical treatment of teachers infected with COVID-19.

According to Pagaduan, the DepEd could pool budget for medical treatment from its 2019 savings that amounted to P400 billion, as announced by Senator Panfilo Lacson in March.

Pagaduan said it could also be obtained from the unprogrammed appropriation of the government worth P216 billion of the General Appropriations Act of 2020, P56.6-billion Personnel Benefit Fund’s lump sum, P2.1-billion Quick Response Fund, and P779-million In-Service Training.

LZB