A group of teachers on Sunday, April 10, appealed to Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Briones to halt the implementation of a new policy on work arrangement.
The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC), in a Facebook post by its national chairperson Benjo Basas, called on the DepEd to halt the implementation of Department Memorandum (DM) No. 29 series of 2022 and start the consultation in the field.
“We are not against physical reporting, in fact, gusto na natin ng (we also want), face-to-face classes,” Basas said. “But a 100 percent physical reporting for modular and online tasks simply defeats logic,” he added.
The DM No. 29 s. 2022 or Work Arrangements in the Department of Education During the Imposition of Alert Level 1 System for COVID 19 Response, ordered the 100 percent onsite reporting of teaching and non-teaching in areas under Alert Level 1.
It further amended the DepEd Order No. 11, s. 2022 or Revised Guidelines on Alternative Work Arrangements in the Department of Education During the Period of State of National Emergency due to Covid-19 Pandemic which mandates that work-from-home set-up is the default arrangement for classroom teachers regardless of the quarantine categories in the locality.
TDC claimed that the new memorandum issued last April 6 “created confusion and even dismay among the teachers and school heads in the field.”
Given this, TDC appealed to Briones to immediately recall the directive because there was “no consultation with the teachers in the field took place on the matter.”
TDC also expressed concern that schools --- with properly functioning systems--- will be disrupted by the 100 percent onsite reporting.
“Transportation is still unreasonably costly in many parts of the country,” TDC said.
TDC said that the new set-up will be challenging for teachers who are handling online classes since “internet connectivity in many schools is still either non-existent or intermittent.”
The group also pointed out that many schools have not yet been sufficiently prepared for the reopening of face-to-face learning; and that only a very small number of learners participated in the expanded phase of limited face-to-face classes.
“Teachers themselves are eager to go back to normal classes, but unless it is already both safe and practicable, we could lose the gains we have achieved in the last two years and be thrown back several steps, and this time, with much less assets at our disposal,” Basas said.
TDC said that since the school year is now in the last remaining quarter, disrupting the current local set-ups “would not help the DepEd’s efforts against the pandemic” --- which has yet to be considered a non-risk.
“We urge the DepEd to immediately halt the implementation of this memorandum,” Basas said.
“Further, we ask for a wide consultation with our classroom teachers including school heads, especially those in affected areas,” he added.
TDC expressed confidence in Briones’ “wisdom and will anticipate her positive response” before the Holy Week break.