The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines slammed the mandatory school reporting of teachers beyond the official school year calendar, calling it a “new form of forced labor.”
ACT Philippines, on Tuesday, June 28, criticized the Department of Education (DepEd) after receiving reports from educators across the country that they are still mandated to physically report to school beyond DepEd’s school year calendar.
“DepEd is using its questionable Memorandum 43 series of 2022, issued last May 10 to justify this new form of forced labor. This memo essentially extended work for teachers for them to report to school,” said ACT Philippines chairperson Vladimer Quetua.
While only 197 of the 209 class days were used during this school year due to the declaration of 12-day health break, teachers believe that these were sufficient to meet their learning and teaching objectives.
“If DepEd insists that there is exigency of service, there should be an order approved by the division that teachers are required to report and there should be additional compensation or service credit for them,” Quetua furthered.
Based on DepEd’s calendar, June 24 was the last day of school year 2021-2022.