DepEd told: Stop practice of hiring teachers based on connections

MANILA, Philippines — House committee on higher and technical education chair Aurora Representative Juan Edgardo Angara on Thursday urged the Department of Education to “hire based on merit” when it recruits about 61,510 teachers in 2013.

An aspiring educator should be hired based on qualifications and not due to “connections” to influential individuals, according to Angara. To him, applicants should be considered based on “competitive rankings” likening the hiring process to a competition wherein the DepEd will look for persons best suited for the job.

DepEd will be recruiting teachers in a year-long job fair in 2013 which will cost P14.6 billion in the initial year for salaries alone, added the lawmaker. He said that the move was “the largest recruitment of government personnel since World War II.”

DepEd’s gross budget of P292.8 billion is higher by 23 percent than last year’s P238.7 billion. It is eyeing to recruit 3,500 more employees for non-teaching positions which Angara said would result in a P730-million payroll cost.

Aside from its increase in recruitment, the DepEd will also build 31,789 classrooms and 90,461 toilets which would cost P25.3 billion. Angara said that the agency also seeks to acquire 639,185 chairs worth P575 million, 31.1 million text books worth P1.49 billion and a million scholarship slots under the  Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) program worth P6.98 billion.

Around P1.7 billion is also being allocated for the studies of 1.39 million kindergarten pupils.

Angara said that it was important for DepEd to be strict in its criteria for applicants to ensure that students benefit from being taught by the best instructors.