Teachers may receive P5K to P35K in bonuses

The country’s nearly 600,000 public school teachers will likely receive their performance-based bonus (PBB) before the next school year starts in June.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro has issued the long-awaited guidelines on how teachers and the rest of the employees and officials of the Department of Education (DepEd) can avail themselves of the bonus, which ranges from P5,000 to P35,000.

The bonus will be computed based on the teachers’ respective schools’ performance and not on individual performance, according to DepEd Order No. 12 Series 2012 that Luistro signed on Feb. 28.

Government employees last year did not receive the full P10,000 yearend bonus that is traditionally given across the board to augment their Christmas bonus.

Under President Aquino’s Executive Order 80 s. 2012, issued last July 20, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) instead released only P5,000 as productivity-enhancement incentive, with the promise of a separate performance-based bonus.

The PBB will depend on individual performance and the performance of an employee’s agency, according to the DBM.

The DBM said the PBB would range from P5,000 for good-performing individuals in a good-performing agency to P35,000 for the best-performing individuals in the best-performing agencies.

Guidelines

The guidelines for determining the performance of agencies were released by a DBM-led interagency task force on Nov. 12, 2012.

Formed by Luistro on Jan. 18 last year, the task force was headed by Jesus Mateo, assistant secretary for planning, to formulate how to compute the PBB.

The task force has since conducted marathon hearings to speed up the release of the bonuses.

“For fiscal year 2012, there will be no individual forced ranking at the school level. Thus, the performance category of school-based performance review and evaluation shall determine the level of (bonus) that each employee will receive,” Luistro said in his order.

Three indicators

A school’s performance, meanwhile, will be measured by three indicators: National Achievement Test (NAT) results; dropout rate; and the school’s liquidation of its maintenance, operating and other expenses.

NAT is given to Grade 3 and Grade 6 pupils, and fourth-year high school students every year to measure the students’ mastery of core subjects.

Automatic for awardees

Teachers and other DepEd employees who received national awards last year such as those given by the Civil Service Commission, Metrobank Foundation and the National Literacy Awards will automatically receive the full bonus of P35,000.

Employees and officials, who were found guilty last year in administrative and criminal cases (except when the penalty is reprimand) and those who received a “below satisfactory” rating, are automatically disqualified from receiving the bonus.

Different criteria

The DepEd has set different performance criteria for officials and employees in the central, regional and division offices, and in attached agencies (except the Philippine High School for the Arts).

They will be evaluated based on the performance of their units and their individual performance.

Contractual and casual employees, who have an employer-employee relationship with the DepEd, will also be eligible for bonus.

Employees of DepEd as of Nov. 30, 2012, with at least four months of service are eligible for the bonus.

The guidelines will take effect as soon as DepEd is approved as an agency eligible to receive the PBB, according to Luistro.

Deadline

The education secretary has ordered all schools to submit by March 27 the computations of the bonuses for teachers and all school-based employees.

For division, regional and central offices, the deadline is April 3.

The computations will be submitted on April 12 to the DepEd’s Executive Committee for approval, and will be forwarded to the DBM by April 17 for funding and implementation.