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MANILA, Philippines — Teachers will earn service credits on top of the 15-day leave limit as an incentive for participating in the National Learning Camp (NLC), the Department of Education (DepEd) said on Tuesday.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers has previously pointed out that, despite incentives to work during their vacation, teachers would have to abide by the limit imposed by DepEd.
“Since this is voluntary, teachers will receive service credits. These service credits, as we know, are given to teachers with a limit of 15 days per year. So, these service credits that we will give will be exclusive of that 15-day limit. They’re not included. They will be over and above the 15-day limit to show our gratitude for the voluntary that our teachers are doing,” Undersecretary Michael Poa, the DepEd spokesperson, said, speaking partly in Filipino.
Poa said that teachers, besides getting compensation, would also be provided with meals, but DepEd is still ironing out the implementation details.
According to Poa, learners are incentivized with free items and services, such as ice cream and eye checkups courtesy of DepEd’s partnership with private sectors.
“We want to make this fun,” he said.
DepEd will launch the NLC pilot program on July 24 as part of efforts to address learning gaps in the country.