Recognizing the multitude of issues and concerns faced by teachers and non-teaching personnel in schools nationwide, the Department of Education (DepEd) has inked a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Government Service Insurance Corporation (GSIS) on Monday, Sept. 25.
The MoA signing aimed to provide teachers and other personnel of DepEd the “ultimate customer experience” through improved delivery of services from the part of GSIS.
During the event, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte said that in her school visits around the country, she learned from teachers and DepEd personnel their concerns about GSIS.
“For DepEd, the promotion of welfare and the protection of our employees' rights are paramount,” Duterte said.
Signed by Duterte and GSIS President and General Manager Jose Arnulfo Veloso at the GSIS Main Office in Pasay City, the MoA aimed to greatly improve the state pension fund’s services to teachers and other DepEd personnel nationwide.
In her speech, Duterte recognized that financial stability has been one of the “sources of anxiety for teachers and employees.” Given this, she noted that addressing this problem has been one of the things she acted with urgency upon assuming the DepEd post.
Duterte shared that she raised this issue with Veloso when he took his oath before her last year and she was “happy” with his reception on the issue.
Improving services for teaching, non-teaching personnel
During the kickoff activity of the National Teachers’ Month (NTM) in Bohol City on Sept. 5, Duterte announced that the DepEd was in talks with GSIS to improve the services for teachers.
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https://mb.com.ph/2023/9/3/dep-ed-to-kick-off-2023-nat-l-teachers-month-celebration-on-sept-5
The MoA, Duterte said, “highlights our mutual recognition of teachers as nation-builders.”
Duterte added that the partnership through the MoA “confirms our commitment to provide solutions to the concerns of our employees—and to move forward with a renewed and stronger institutional collaboration anchored on our shared objective to best serve Filipinos and the country. “
As agreed by both parties, Duterte noted that GSIS will establish express lanes exclusively for teachers and other DepEd personnel in the GSIS central office and its regional offices across the country.
“This is particularly useful for teachers assigned in rural or geographically-isolated areas who must travel for hours just to reach the nearest GSIS branch office,” Duterte said.
Duterte said that another step is for GSIS to consider adding a DepEd personnel-specific option to its hotline.
GSIS, she added, will also designate account officers exclusively working on DepEd issues.
“Having a dedicated team of account officers will minimize the time needed to reconcile accounts and speed up the process of addressing premium-related discrepancies and loan-related issues,” Duterte added.
For its part, GSIS also committed to holding an annual dialogue between its branches and their DepEd counterparts to discuss and address services concerns related to its services.
Meanwhile, Duterte thanked GSIS for “embracing the initiatives to help the teachers and DepEd personnel who comprised more than half of the GSIS membership.
“Alam natin ang mahalagang papel ng mga guro at iba pang kawani ng DepEd sa ating bayan (We know the important role of teachers and other employees of the DepEd in our country),” Duterte said.
Since teachers “practically hold the future in our hands, the future of our country in their hands,” Duterte noted that any kind of assistance extended to those in the education sector is “our assistance to Filipino youth and our nation.”
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