The Department of Education (DepEd) assured that the hiring of teachers for this year will continue despite the current public health crisis.
DepEd Undersecretary Jesus Mateo confirmed that hiring of teachers is ongoing. “The are 10,000 teacher items approved in 2020,” he explained. The application period stated is December 2019. Due to the public health situation, job interviews for those who applied for teaching positions are being conducted online.
As of April 2020, DepEd data shows that there are 847, 467 teaching positions in the agency. Of this number, 805, 957 are filled and 41, 510 remain unfilled. There are also 51, 866 teaching related items wherein 43, 129 are filled and 8, 737 are unfilled.
Mateo noted that 1: 40 or 1 teacher for every 40 pupils remains as the ideal ratio in schools. “Based on our data, the teacher and pupil ratio for elementary is 1:29; 1:26 in Junior High School (JHS) and 1:32 in Senior High School (SHS),” he added.
Apart from the government-mandated compensation and benefit for all employees which amount to a total of P27,996 per month for entry-level teachers, DepEd said that public school teachers receive allowance accorded only to public school teachers including a cash allowance (P3,500/year); Proportional Vacation Pay (P36,994.83 to P38,340.10 for SY 2018-2019); hardship allowance (15-25% of monthly basic salary); honoraria for teaching overload (25% of monthly basic salary); additional incentives/allowance from local government units (LGUs). DepEd noted that the Bicameral Committee version of the 2019 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) also includes annual medical examination (P500/year) and 2019 WTD incentive (P1,000).
Recognizing the need for teachers to have improved professional growth and opportunities, DepEd adds new teaching positions of Teacher IV, Teacher V, Teacher VI, and Teacher VII with corresponding higher salary grades after the current items of Teacher I, Teacher II, and Teacher III.