The Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday, June 14, announced that it will be releasing the P5,000 cash allowance of classroom teachers for the School Year (SY) 2021-2022.
DepEd said that this move is in line with its continuous support to teacher's need in providing education amidst the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The DepEd and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) issued a Joint Circular (JC) to prescribe guidelines to implement DepEd-Office of the Secretary Special Provision No. 11 in the Fiscal Year 2021 General Appropriations Act (GAA) on Cash Allowance.
DepEd noted that in the JC, “classroom teachers will receive a P5,000 cash allowance” intended for the purchase of teaching supplies and materials, tangible or intangible; for the conduct of various modes of learning, internet, and other communication expenses; and for their annual medical examination expenses.
“With the help of Congress, the Department is continuously pushing for better financial support for our public school teachers,” DepEd Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones said.
Briones added that this year is “actually the start of the staggered increase for our teachers’ cash allowance who are truly committed to deliver quality education despite the pandemic.”
DepEd said that the cash allowance shall be given to “entitled public school teachers not earlier than the official start of every school year or as may be decided by the Education Secretary or designated authorities in cases of emergencies.”
Meanwhile, DepEd Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla said that the date of the opening of classes is important for the release of the Cash Allowance.
“Importante po na magkaroon tayo ng desisyon kung kailan yung susunod na school year calendar dahil ihahanda din po namin sa finance ang pagbibigay ng cash allowance para sa ating mga guro (It is important for us to have a decision on when the next school year calendar will be because we will also finance the provision of cash allowance for our teachers),” Sevilla said.
Sevilla said that in SY 2020-2021, the cash allowance was P3,500. “But this year this is now P5,000 also there is transportation and teaching aid allowance for our Alternative Learning Service teachers,” she added.
DepEd said that the circular will cover all permanent and provisional public-school teachers, including Alternative Learning System (ALS) Mobile and District ALS Coordinators (DALCS), in all public elementary, junior, and senior high schools, and community learning centers.
Related to this, DepEd said that teachers - who are in service in the department as of the official first day of the school year up to 30 calendar days after the start of SY - is are also entitled to “full cash allowance, while teachers whose assumption to duty is beyond 30 days after the school year will be entitled to a pro-rata basis.”
Meanwhile, DepEd noted that public school teachers with no teaching load, absence without leave, who are on an indefinite leave of absence, maternity leave, study leave, guilty of any offense in connection with their work, and those who no longer in service as of the official start of the school year are “not entitled to the grant” of the cash allowance.
“However, those who resume their duty after their leave and are assigned with at least one teaching load with the current SY will be entitled to cash allowance on a pro-rata basis,” DepEd explained.
DepEd said that the pro-rated payment of the Cash Allowance will be based on the date of assumption to the duty from the date of opening of classes.
Those who assume duty within the first 30 days will receive 100 percent of allowance amounting to P5,000; 80 percent or P4,000 for those after the first 30 days but not more than 90 days; 50 percent or P2,500 for those after 90 days but not more than 150 days; and 20 percent or P1,000 for those after 150 days until the end of the SY.