Amid criticisms, the Department of Education (DepEd) stood firm on its decision for schools to remove “unnecessary” materials inside classrooms to help learners focus on their teachers and the lessons during classes.

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, in a statement read by DepEd Undersecretary and Spokesperson Michael Poa during a radio interview on Aug. 21, maintained that the directive stated in DepEd Order No. 21 or the 2023 Brigada Eskwela Implementing Guidelines stands.

“The order is what it is,” Duterte said. “Take out everything on the wall [and] let learners focus on their studies,” she added.

The “maintenance of clean schools” was highlighted in said DepEd issuance. 

In particular, DepEd instructed schools to ensure that their grounds, classrooms, and all its walls and other school facilities are “clean and free from unnecessary artwork, decorations, tarpaulin, and posters at all times.”

In the same guidelines, DepEd said schools should take down “oversized signages with commercial advertisements, words of sponsorships and/or endorsements or announcements of any kind or nature.”

DepEd local officials, including public elementary and secondary school heads, were also directed to ensure that “classroom walls shall remain bare and devoid of posters, decorations or other posted materials.”

“Classrooms and rooms should be clean and functional,” Duterte said in her statement read by Poa.

“I know that President Marcos and all other former presidents, Jose Rizal and all heroes past and present, will not all be bothered if learners focus on their teachers, lessons, projects, and assignments,” she added.

Moreover, DepEd instructed schools that classrooms should not be used to “stockpile materials and should be clear of other unused items or items for disposal.”

DepEd’s directive to “declutter” schools has sparked confusion among teachers and received mixed reactions from stakeholders.

READ:

https://mb.com.ph/2023/8/19/dep-ed-s-declutter-order-to-schools-draws-mixed-reactions-from-netizens-1

Related to this, the teachers’ group urged DepEd to clarify its “bare classrooms” policy.

The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC), in a statement issued Aug. 20, said that the recent order from DepEd to take down posters and other materials in the classroom walls “should be clarified.”

“Clearly, the purpose of the directive is to remove extraneous decorations, posters, and other materials that cluttered the classrooms and learning spaces of our children,” TDC said.

TDC added that these also serve as a “reminder to refrain from using the school as a platform for commercial and even political advertisements.”

While TDC recognized that this action would lower the expenses teachers incur when setting up their classrooms or reduce the tendency to solicit funds during Brigada Eskwela, the group underscored the “need to consider” the educational advantages these posters have on students.

“As younger children who struggled in public schools, most of us learned the basic concepts of the basic concepts partly from the posters and charts displayed in our classrooms,” TDC said.

Given this, TDC requested that the DepEd “promptly clarify” its to guide the field as to “what is and is not necessary” based on several considerations.