Students in a classroom at the Apas National High School in Cebu City. (File photo by DALE ISRAEL / Inquirer Visayas)
MANILA, Philippines — Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez wants to limit school hours in public schools to six hours a day to protect teachers’ welfare and elevate the quality of basic education.
Rodriguez, chair of the House constitutional amendments committee, noted that teachers in public schools end up working eight hours a day or more as their work was not limited to the classroom.
“Six hours of that shift are spent in the lecture hall, and two hours are spent in lesson plan preparation, lecture planning, and student-parent consultations,” he said in his explanatory note to House Bill No. 7822.
Rodriguez also cited factors such as the large number of students in public schools and “irritants” like cramped classrooms and lack of instructional aids like blackboard, chalk, and textbooks.