The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) has appealed to the government to consider extending the services of more than 1, 000 Senior High School (SHS) to the Department of Education (DepEd).
TDC national chairperson Benjo Basas said the teachers, who were hired on probationary status since 2016, were told that their last day would be today, May 31, following their failure to secure a teaching license or take the licensure examination under a provision of Republic Act 10533 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, popularly known as the K-12 Law.
“These colleagues have consistently performed satisfactory to excellent tasks as evidenced by their continuous rehiring up to the present school year. They have contributed greatly to the success of DepEd’s Senior High School program as pioneers in spite of the system’s challenges due to birth pains and thus, are considered assets of the Department,” Basas said in a statement.
Basas has written separate letters to the DepEd, Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to formally seek the extension of the teachers’ service to the DepEd.
He explained that the teachers failed to secure a professional teaching license, a requirement for their adoption as permanent teachers because of unavoidable circumstances due to the coronavirus disease (COVID) pandemic.
“Despite their dedication and service, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented them from pursuing the licensure requirement set forth by law. It is a known fact the PRC has suspended the licensure examination for teachers in year 2020 and will only resume the said examination this coming September,” Basas said.
He noted that the conduct of examinations set in March 2020 and March this year has been called off.
The TDC official expressed hopes that the government could finally decide on rehiring of teachers after the result of the licensure exams on September "so as not to jeopardize the education service for children and not to deny the sources of livelihood of the teachers.”
He sought the automatic retention of the teachers up to July 10 this year, or the day when the school year ends.
“It is unimaginable that these teachers who were with us since Day 1 will lose their jobs at this very trying time, not to mention the discontinuity of education service to our learners. We would like to note that the current school year will end on July 10, 2021 as scheduled, thus terminating the services of the teachers by May 31, 2021 would create a negative impact that would affect the school system,” Basas said.
The PRC has assured TDC that the affected teachers will be prioritized in the schedule of examinations this September. The CSC likewise gave a word of assurance to TDC that its teachers’ concerns will be tackled by the Commission scheduled on May 31.
The TDC said it has been in constant communication with the DepEd through the Office of Undersecretary for Planning, Human Resource and Organizational Development Jesus L.R. Mateo.
The teachers’ group sought dialogue with the PRC, CSC and DepEd to tackle the matter concerning not only the livelihood of the teachers, but also the delivery of education to the country’s learners.