DepEd eyes fewer admin, special tasks for teachers

The Department of Education (DepEd) on Thursday said it is working on removing and reducing the administrative and special tasks of teachers amid the reported excessive workloads and hours.

In a press conference, DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa said their Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development-Organization Effectiveness Division will issue a policy on working hours.

“Aside from that…We are about to launch a workload balancing tool kung saan maa-identify kung ilang oras talaga 'yung contact hours ng teachers sa class at ano naman 'yung hours na binubuno nila para gawin 'yung admin tasks so we can lessen 'yung admin tasks,” he said.

(Aside from that…We are about to launch a workload balancing tool where we can identify how many hours teachers allot for contact hours in class and for admin tasks, so we can lessen the admin tasks.)

The tool is set to be launched this year, he added.

Poa made the statement when asked for clarification about the six-hour workday policy. According to him, the DepEd is already working on the matter.

He said there is already an agreement that teachers will no longer be tasked to execute the numerous events coming from the DepEd Central Office.

He added the Department is also coordinating with local government units to stop requiring teachers to participate in activities in their areas.

Poa said the DepEd also wants to transfer the administrative tasks of teachers to non-teaching personnel.

To address the excessive teaching hours, he said DepEd will hire around 20,000 more teachers by 2023.

Meanwhile, the DepEd is verifying reports that a 57-year old teacher in Bicol died due to overwork, Poa said.

“We already contacted the [Schools Division Office] concerned. We are actually waiting for the incident report kung talagang related sa trabaho 'yung pagkamatay nung ating teacher (if the death of the teacher was work related),” he said.

“Of course, we are very, very sorry to hear that news,” he added.

According to the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT)-Bicol, the teacher wanted to file a sick leave but the school head allegedly did not allow her due to scheduled class observation.

“Dahil sa masama na nitong pakiramdam ay nagtungo ito sa hospital ng hapon, ngunit sa hindi inaasahang pangyayari ay binawian ng buhay ang nasabing guro (noong) September 13 habang suot pa nito ang kanyang uniporme tanda ng kanyang dedikasyon sa trabaho,” the group said.

(Because she was really not feeling well, the teacher went to the hospital in the afternoon, but unexpectedly, she died on September 13 while still wearing her uniform, a sign of her dedication to work.)—AOL, GMA News