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Angara urged by teachers to suspend 'heavy' teaching load orders
Angara urged by teachers to suspend 'heavy' teaching load orders
A teachers’ group on Tuesday, July 30, urged Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara to “immediately suspend” policies that would give teachers a heavier workload.
The Teachers' Dignity Coalition (TDC), in a statement, raised concerns regarding the DepEd’s recent directives concerning teachers' workload about the MATATAG curriculum.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2023/8/12/understanding-dep-ed-s-matatag-k-to-10-curriculum
TDC National Chairperson Benjo Basas raised urgent concerns regarding DepEd Order No. 5, s. 2024 or the Rationalization of Teachers' Workload in Public Schools and Payment of Teaching Overload, and Order No. 10, s. 2024 or the Policy Guidelines for the Implementation of the MATATAG Curriculum.
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Basas said DepEd should clarify that “the requirement to render six hours of actual classroom teaching is being overstretched, with some teachers handling 7-8 sections without breaks, neglecting their physical, mental, and emotional well-being.”
TDC also pointed out that “additional teaching loads from different grade levels are being assigned to teachers to meet the so-called six-hour requirement.”
Some teachers, TDC said, are “at risk” of being declared excess and transferred to other schools, which violates Section 6 of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers.
"These issues stem from the portion of the order stating that teachers are 'required to render six-hour actual classroom teaching,' which deviates from the Magna Carta provision that teachers 'shall not be required to render more than six hours of actual classroom teaching a day,’" Basas explained.
Basas cited provisions of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers, which according to him, “does not require the full six hours for actual teaching and has since allowed teachers to teach for less than six hours, have breaks in between classes, and to go home after spending six hours in school.”
TDC explained that the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers or RA 4670 was enacted to “protect teachers' rights and welfare and has faced numerous challenges since its approval 58 years ago.”
The group said a significant milestone occurred in 2008 when the Civil Service Commission (CSC) ordered DepEd to formulate guidelines ensuring teachers would only stay in school for six hours, with no more than six hours of actual classroom teaching.
"However, the noble intent of this law has often been blatantly ignored,” Basas lamented. "It appears they lack comprehension of the challenges of teaching seven to eight sections, particularly when crammed into a six-hour period," he added.
Basas said the group initially anticipated that DO No. 5, s. 2024, would fulfill this advocacy, but it “appears we were wrong.”
“This policy, which promises overtime pay, has turned out to be a tool for further exploiting the physical and intellectual labor of our teachers, resulting in overwork, anxiety, stress, and demoralization,” he added.
RELATED STORY:
https://mb.com.ph/2024/7/28/group-demands-immediate-halt-of-dep-ed-s-matatag-curriculum-find-out-why