The largest teacher’s organization in the country has pressed the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to intervene in the Department of Education’s (DepEd) failure to properly compensate public school teachers for their almost three-months’ overtime work in preparation for distance learning last school year.
Members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT ) held a noise barrage in front of the CSC head office in Quezon City on Friday calling on the agency to provide “direct and opportune intervention” and guarantee that the 87 days of overtime work rendered by teachers from June 1 to Oct. 3, 2020, be properly compensated.
“It is dishonorable for public officials to go back on their words and turn their backs on education front-liners who have gone beyond their duties to ensure education continuity in the midst of a pandemic,” said Raymond Basilio, secretary general of ACT.
According to the group, the grant of vacation service credits for teachers’ overtime work in the last school year and a 25-percent overtime premium were agreed upon during a multiparty dialogue among ACT, the CSC, the DepEd, the Department of Budget and Management and ACT Teachers party list.
The DepEd said overtime pay could not be claimed on days in excess of the 220 maximum number of school days under Republic Act No. 7977 as amended by RA 11480.
At an online press briefing, Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said the agency did not agree on ACT’s interpretation of the law.
Citing Section 1 of RA 7977, he noted that the number of school days during the school year will not be considered as a basis for additional pay for regular teachers.
While the DepEd acknowledged that teachers rendered services from June to September last year—even before the official start of classes on Oct. 5, 2020—they had received their monthly salaries for the period, amounting to around P120 billion.
“Thus, they were regularly compensated for the regular eight-hour workday required of teachers like other government employees,” Malaluan said.
Basilio called Malaluan’s statement “baseless and a lie,” saying the compensation for the 87-day overtime work of teachers was already “affirmed” by Education Undersecretary Jesus Mateo during the June multiparty dialogue.
He cited Section 14 of RA 4670, the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers, stating that teachers will be paid an additional compensation for “cocurricula and out-of-school activities outside of what is defined as normal duties of any teacher.”
“We urge the CSC to put its foot down and take favorable actions in support of our public school teachers. Otherwise, we will be forced to take matters into our own hands and claim what is due us and demand for our rights,” Basilio said.
ACT has given the DepEd until Oct. 5, World Teacher’s Day, to commit to its promise.