Recognizing the importance of maintaining a healthy workforce to ensure the continued delivery of education services, Education Secretary Sonny Angara announced on Monday, July 22, that he plans to hire at least one doctor for each office of the Department of Education (DepEd).
“I noticed in my rounds na wala tayong doctor sa ating clinic, meron tayong nurse (we don't have a doctor in our clinic, we have a nurse),” Angara said during his first flag-raising ceremony as DepEd Secretary.
Angara, a former Senator, noted that in the Senate, “[we have] at least one doctor on duty,” and he wants to implement the same for DepEd to address the medical and health needs of the personnel.
“We will make it a priority to hire at least one doctor for the Central Office and hopefully the same for our division and regional offices so that we can take care of our DepEd personnel,” Angara said, earning applause from officials and staff at the DepEd Central Office.
“I think that is the number one pre-condition to a good performance, good health so ipa-project natin iyan (we will make it as a project) [since] health is wealth,” he added.
In an interview following the flag-raising ceremony, Angara told reporters that DepEd is currently exploring further improvements focusing on the health of its personnel.
Angara emphasized that having a doctor on call at DepEd offices, especially the Central Office, is “imperative.”
“Ang dami namin dito parang mahirap pa’no kung may na-highblood o atake sa puso, o ‘di ba, kahit masama lang ‘yong pakiramdam so, I think it’s imperative ‘no. (There are so many of us here, it’s quite difficult if someone has high blood pressure or a heart attack, or even if they're just feeling unwell so, I think it’s imperative),” he added.
Angara said in the DepEd Central Office in Pasig City alone, there are at least 2,500 DepEd employees, including officials.