DepEd teachers finally freed of extra tasks

MORE FOCUSED | Public school teachers like Ivy Catungal of San Diego Elementary School in Batasan Hills, Quezon City, can focus more on teaching once they are unburdened of administrative tasks unrelated to their main job under a new Department of Education order. (Photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — A new order from the education department will give public school teachers more time to focus on teaching by unburdening them of unpaid nonteaching tasks, such as writing reports and acting as property custodians.

Temporary staff to whom these functions are to be transferred will be hired. They will be paid with funds from the school’s maintenance and operating expenses.

A teacher, who is one of only six teachers at a public school in Misamis Occidental province, sometimes leaves her students in the middle of a class so she can submit the school’s administrative reports on the status of school operations to the regional division of the Department of Education (DepEd).

“Even on Saturdays or Sundays, there are times I am told to submit reports ASAP (as soon as possible),” said the teacher from Misamis Occidental, whose Grade 3 pupils are mostly from an indigenous community.

The teacher, who requested not to be named, said she took over this clerical work from some school officials who did not know how to use computers.

“They should be able to do that … that will help us reduce our own tasks,” she told the Inquirer in an exchange of messages.

Perennial complaint

Because such duties had been added to her teaching load, she often worked overtime.

“And yet, we have no overtime pay,” said the teacher, who teaches a broad range of subjects, including English, Filipino, math, science, and social studies.

With only her and five other teachers handling 112 learners at the public school managed by the DepEd, they are severely understaffed.

Acting on this perennial complaint from public school teachers, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte announced during her second Basic Education Report last week that the burden of administrative work would soon be lifted off the shoulders of public school teachers.

On Friday, the DepEd released Department Order No. 002 specifying the administrative tasks that would be removed from teachers: personnel administration; custodianship of property or physical facilities; general administrative support; financial, records, and program management, including school-based feeding; and disaster risk reduction.

Work hours maximized

The directive covers all full-time DepEd-employed teachers or those under “permanent, provisional, or substitute status” in all public elementary and high schools.

“With this endeavor, they shall be able to focus on the teaching and learning process and become effective facilitators of learning,” the order said.

“This initiative shall help protect and uplift the welfare and well-being of public school teachers to support them to teach better, which in turn shall realize quality learning among Filipino learners,” it said.

The policy is intended to ensure that a teacher’s working hours “are maximized for actual classroom teaching and tasks.”

Under DO 002, administrative tasks are defined as those supposed to be performed by school heads and nonteaching staff that “are related to the effective and efficient operations of schools or programs, projects, and services.”

These are “not directly related to teaching and academic learning.”

School division offices may hire additional staff under contract of service or job order positions for a smooth turnover of these administrative tasks from the teachers.

The costs of hiring the new staff may be billed against “maintenance and other operating expenses” of the school, according to DO 002.

Snags expected

Over the next two months, school division offices are also ordered to “immediately implement” other transition strategies, such as “clustering” of a maximum of three schools with insufficient nonteaching personnel; deployment of support staff to the “clustered” schools; and the transfer of existing administrative tasks from teachers to school heads.

Clustering is not a new measure, according to Education Undersecretary Michael Poa.

“DepEd has been doing this. (It) just has to plan the clustering better so that when the DO is released, we can effectively implement it,” Poa told reporters last week.

The education spokesperson acknowledged that the new policy may hit a snag during the transition period because “there are a lot of adjustments to be made.”

“But this is the start, and hopefully we get to implement this right,” Poa said.

The second annual report of Duterte on the state of the country’s basic education drew mixed reviews from teachers’ groups, with one calling her out for highlighting “relatively minor achievements.”

Right direction

The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) welcomed the move to relieve teachers of administrative duties but pressed the DepEd to hire more support personnel in schools, such as guidance counselors, nurses, utility workers, and security staff.

“With regards to the hiring of additional personnel, it should be based on the actual needs on the ground—not only administrative staff … but also other workers that will help teachers be completely freed from all unnecessary duties,” TDC chair Benjo Basas said in a statement on Friday.

Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), which advocates academic reforms and quality education, said the removal of nonteaching tasks from teachers was “a step in the right direction in solving our learning crisis.”

“It is high time that we let our teachers focus on what they are supposed to do and that is to facilitate learning,” PBEd executive director Justine Raagas said in a statement.

But the group urged the DepEd to “enlist volunteers or parateachers” for learning camps held during the summer vacation “so that teachers can also have a break.”

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) flagged Duterte’s measure to fix the limit of service credits that teachers may earn from 15 days to 30 days.

Service credits are vacation leave credits given to teachers who work outside of regular teaching hours, such as during summer or Christmas vacations.

More logical

ACT pointed out that this move was “insufficient,” as it would be more logical to lift the cap altogether, noting that teachers are usually assigned additional tasks “without defined constraints.”

“Imposing a cap would likely lead to nonpayment for the extra tasks and work carried out by our already overworked teachers,” the group said in a statement.

ACT said Duterte’s report did not cite the DepEd’s “failures and shortcomings.”

“This omission is crucial as it hinders the identification of solutions and improvements in implementation,” it said.