DepEd ‘hunting’ for more Math, English teachers

The Department of Education (DepEd) is “hunting” for more Math and English teachers, Secretary Leonor Briones told a Senate hearing on Monday.

READ: DepEd seeking to hire more Science, Math teachers

Briones said more than 30,000 new teachers had already been recruited but 15,000 more teaching items  still needed to be filled up.

“We are hunting for Math and English teachers because this is where the need is greatest considering the fact that 60 percent of our learners prefer the academic program,” she said during the hearing of the Senate subcommittee on finance on the proposed P566-billion budget of DepEd next year.

Insofar as expansion of the alternative learning system is concerned, Briones said the government is reaching out to those who are out of school.

“It’s our ambition to reach out to those in the drug rehabilitation centers,” she said.

DepEd, she said, is also reviewing its curriculum from Grade 4 up to high school.

Briones noted that from the age of 9, “children will already be exposed to the evils of drugs, not just through text books but also for experiential stories of whom we consider now celebrity heroes but have undergone this torture of drug exposure and so on.”

She said DepEd is also developing alternative learning methods to reach “hard to reach mountain regions,” small islands as well as densely populated areas.

Likewise, the government is reaching to children of Filipino migrants, who were not registered or did not know their citizenships or who were “hidden” because they are illegal.

Briones justified the department’s huge budget proposal for 2017, saying next year’s allocation would require more resources for Grade 12. RAM/rga

READ: Incoming DepEd Sec. Briones vows to improve K to 12