To ensure that schools will have an adequate workforce for the school year (SY) 2022-2023, the Department of Education (DepEd) issued instructions on the hiring of teachers.

Signed by Undersecretary and Chief of Staff Epimaco Densing III, DepEd issued Memorandum no. 76 series of 2022 dated Aug. 30 instructing regional directors (RDs) and schools division superintendents (SDSs) to ensure that there will be enough teachers in public schools nationwide this school year.

As the appointing authority, DepEd instructed the SDSs to ensure that the “right people for the right job” are appointed at the right time by “strictly adhering to the principles of merit, fitness, competence, equal opportunity, transparency, and accountability.”

DepEd said that the recruitment, selection, and appointment (RSA) of new teachers shall be done “judiciously and expeditiously.”

To ensure this, DepEd said that the DepEd Schools Division Offices (SDOs) need to achieve a 100 percent utilization rate in terms of filling up newly-created and existing teaching items by the end of August 2022.

This, DepEd said, should be done with strict observance of the prescribed RSA processes and parameters under the existing hiring guidelines.

DepEd said that SDOs need to coordinate with the beneficiaries under special hiring arrangements under Republic Act (RA) Nos. 10612 and 7687 with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and “Sa Pinas, Ikaw ang Ma'am/Sir” (SPIMS) Employment Program with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to “inform them of the schedule of demonstration teaching, interview, and the documentary requirements needed to be submitted.”

Moreover, DepEd said that SDOs should be guided by the anticipated effectivity of the provisions of Part V(E) of DepEd Order No. 019, s. 2022 or The Department of Education Merit Selection Plan anchored on the Civil Service Commission Memorandum Circular (CSC MC) No. 014, s. 2018 otherwise known as the 2017 Omnibus Rules on Appointments and Other Human Resource Actions, Revised 2018.

Faithful to the department’s commitment to merit-based hiring, DepEd said that teacher-applicants are advised that the selection and appointment of teachers in DepEd are “strictly based on the criteria and parameters” stipulated in the hiring guidelines.

“As a non-partisan organization, the Department may accept and acknowledge endorsements from any source/proponent; however, these endorsements shall not, in any way, be given extra points or credit in the selection process, nor shall guarantee priority in hiring,” DepEd said.

This, the agency added, is consistent with the “equal opportunity principle” that DepEd as an organization is committed to implementing to select the “most qualified candidates based on their qualifications and competence.”

Likewise, DepEd reminded the appointing authorities, the Human Resource Merit Promotion and Selection Board (HRMPSB), and Human Resource Management Officers (HRMOs) to “put premium on merit, fitness, and competence of applicants to ensure that those who will be appointed have the necessary qualifications that match the competency requirements of the position to filled in order to perform the duties and responsibilities efficiently and effectively.”

DepEd added that the concerned units must “remain accountable” for the selection of employees. They are also expected to “explain, clarify, and justify human resource actions, disclose the results in a transparent manner, and be responsible for decision/s made.”

“At all times, ensure that all relevant, reliable, and timely information on recruitment, selection, and placement be available to the public,” DepEd said.

Appointing authorities, DepEd added, must “strictly observe non-discrimination activities” to allow any applicant within or outside DepEd to apply for a position, regardless of age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, civil status, disability, religion, ethnicity, or political beliefs.

In the establishment of the Registry of Qualified Applicants (RQA) for SY 2022-2023, SDOs were also asked to establish a new RQA for SY 2022-2023 because of the one-year validity of the RQA.

“Based on the usual teaching hiring process, the SDOs are allowed to commence the call for applications and undertake the recruitment and selection process in advance to establish the RQA for SY 2022-2023 in anticipation of the timely appointment and deployment of teachers to newly created items this year,” DepEd said.

To expedite the recruitment and selection process as well as to augment the number of applicants in light of the Covid-19 situation, DepEd said that the SDOs that have yet to exhaust the SY 2021-2022 RQA “may consider remaining qualified applicants” to be included in the SY 2022-2023 RQA as long as they submit a Letter of Intent per the SDO's Call for Applications and updated credentials and application documents if any.

“The points earned by the teacher applicants in the previous year's RQA may be honored, unless they have presented new documents to update their points,” DepEd added.