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DepEd: Teachers who violate 'bare wall' policy may face sanction
DepEd: Teachers who violate 'bare wall' policy may face sanction
At A Glance
- Aside from the usual school opening concerns such as the lack of basic education facilities in highly congested schools, one of the most noticeable changes compared to previous years is the absence of visual aids and other educational materials on the walls of classrooms in public schools.
- While DepEd can impose administrative sanctions against teachers who violate the directive, Education Undersecretary Michael Poa maintained that the goal of the agency in issuing the directive is to make "classrooms comfortable" and not to penalize the teachers.
The Department of Education (DepEd) on Tuesday, Aug. 28, said that teachers who fail to comply with its directive directive to take down postings on classroom walls might face administrative sanction.
“Kung hindi sumunod siyempre po we can always say it is a violation of our rules but having said that, hindi naman tayo naghahanap talaga to penalize our teachers (Of course, if they don't comply, we can always say that it's a violation of our rules but having said that, we're not really looking to penalize our teachers),” said DepEd Undersecretary and Spokesperson Michael Poa said in an interview over Teleradyo Serbisyo.
SY 2023-2024 formally opened in public schools on Aug. 29.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2023/8/28/back-to-school-2023-blank-walls-and-persistent-issues
Aside from the usual school opening concerns such as the lack of basic education facilities in highly congested schools, one of the most noticeable changes compared to previous years is the absence of visual aids and other educational materials on the walls of classrooms in public schools.
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Poa said that the directive to maintain “clean” and clutter-free classrooms was one of this year’s Brigada Eskwela guidelines.
“Gusto lang talaga natin i-encourage na malinis ang ating mga classrooms (We really just want to encourage having clean classrooms),” Poa said.
“Kung merong hindi sumunod, we will analyze it on a case to case basis and maybe speak with the school head kung anong nangyari (If there are those who don't comply, we will analyze it on a case-by-case basis and maybe speak with the school head to understand what happened),” he explained.
“Pero hindi naman tayo agad agaran na talagang magpapataw ng ganyan penalty, lahat naman idinadaan nating sa proseso (But we won't immediately impose such a penalty; we go through a process for everything),” Poa added.
Possible administrative liability
Poa said that if needed, DepEd can impose an administrative sanction against teachers who did not comply with the directive.
“Kung gusto talaga natin patawan ng administrative sanction, meron naman tayo yung violation ng reasonable rules and regulations of DepEd (If we really want to impose an administrative sanction, we have the violation of reasonable rules and regulations of DepEd),” he added.
While DepEd can impose administrative sanctions against teachers who violate the DepEd directive, Poa maintained that the goal of DepEd in issuing the directive is to make “classrooms comfortable” and not to penalize the teachers.
“Kung meron hindi sumunod, I think we will find out first before natin kasuhan ang kaagad ang teacher (If there's someone who didn't comply, I think we should find out the details first before immediately filing charges against the teacher),” he added.
Poa expressed confidence that teachers in public schools will comply with DepEd’s directive.
“The past few days, marami naman po nagpapadala ng pictures at online na malinis na malinis at maaliwalas ang ating mga classrooms (The past few days, many have been sending pictures online showing that our classrooms are very clean and comfortable),” he said.
The DepEd Central Office, he added, has also been in constant communication with its Regional Directors.
“Base naman sa kanilang mga reports, nag comply naman ang mga teachers (Based on their reports, the teachers have complied),” Poa said.
“Although sa social media, alam naman natin na may mga well opinions na ibinibigay pero base sa ating mga regional directors, wala naman po tayong issue (Although on social media, we know that there are various opinions being expressed, but according to our regional directors, we don't have any issues [on this],” he added.
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