DepEd division offices to get new legal, procurement staff

The Department of Education (DepEd) is set to deploy over 600 new plantilla personnel—including lawyers, legal assistants, and procurement staff—to public Schools Division Offices (SDOs) across the country. 

This came after the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) formal approval of DepEd’s request to create and reclassify various legal and procurement positions across 223 SDOs.

This will address longstanding staffing gaps that have hampered operations at the local level, according to DepEd.

The approval covers the creation of new 666 plantilla positions across all SDOs, specifically: 47 Attorney III, 187 Legal Assistant I, 214 Administrative Officer IV, and 218 Administrative Officer II. 

DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara stressed that the initiative addresses a critical human resource gap, which has strained field offices for years.

“Malaking tulong ito para sa ating field offices na matagal nang kapos sa suporta. Dahil sa tulong ni Pangulong Marcos at DBM, magkakaroon tayo ng mga abogado at procurement staff sa bawat SDO. Mas mapapabilis ang serbisyo, at mababawasan ang burnout ng ating mga kawani,” Angara said.

(This is a huge help to our field offices that lack support. Through the help of President Marcos and the DBM, we will have lawyers and procurement staff in each of our SDOs. Our services will be swift and the personnel will be saved from burnout.)

The newly approved items will allow each of these 47 small SDOs to have their own full-time legal officer, which will be supported by Legal Assistant I positions across small and medium divisions.

In addition to legal staffing, the DBM also approved the creation of a dedicated Procurement staff across all SDOs, composed of 214 Administrative Officer IV (SG 15) and 218 Administrative Officer II (SG 11) positions. 

These will enable SDOs to process and manage procurement functions more efficiently and in compliance with existing regulations. —VAL, GMA Integrated News