Angara: Teachers should not be teaching for 6 straight hours

Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Wednesday said he plans to amend the basic education curriculum based on the comments of the teachers, including the “exhausting” policy requiring them to render six hours of actual classroom teaching daily. 

Following the Commission on Appointments' (CA) confirmation of his ad interim appointment as Department of Education (DepEd) chief, Angara told reporters that it is okay for teachers to teach for less than six hours per day.

He said the existing policy only requires them a maximum six-hour teaching period. 

However, this is not the case on the ground as teachers complain that some of them have to teach for six consecutive hours daily. Some schools still implement double shifting due to lack of classrooms.

“Pwede naman kasi ‘yung six hours, maximum ‘yun. Nakikita din natin ‘yung mga komento dito sa MATATAG curriculum—minsan wala daw pahinga. So, importante din na nakakapagpahinga ‘yung mga teachers at hindi dire-diretsong six hours,” Angara said. 

(That’s fine because six hours is the maximum. We also see the comments here on the MATATAG curriculum—sometimes they say they have no break. So, it is also important that the teachers are able to rest and not teach for six consecutive hours.) 

“Siguro [maybe] we will amend the curriculum moving forward in line with the criticisms or comments of the people on the ground like the teachers,” he added. 

During the House committee on basic education and culture meeting on Monday, Teachers' Dignity Coalition (TDC) chairperson Benjo Basas said DepEd Order (DO) No. 005 series of 2024—which set the guidelines for the workload of teachers—posed a “physical challenge.”

National Association of Public Secondary School Heads Inc. (NAPSSHI) president Dr. Roland dela Cruz also said school principals followed the DO, but agreed it was quite a stretch for teachers.

Under the DO 5, which was signed by former Education secretary Vice President Sara Duterte, public school teachers need to render eight hours of work daily—of which six hours will be devoted to actual classroom teaching and the remaining two hours for teacher ancillary tasks which may be spent within or outside school premises.—AOL, GMA Integrated News