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Angara on SY 2024-2025 opening: 'Minor issues, nothing too dramatic'
Angara on SY 2024-2025 opening: 'Minor issues, nothing too dramatic'
Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Thursday, Aug. 1, said that while there were “minor issues” reported during the first week of the school opening for School Year (SY) 2024-2025, none were considered too “dramatic.”
Asked to assess this year’s school opening, Angara noted it has been “okay” so far for those schools that have already opened.
“So far, okay naman sa mga nagbukas (it's been okay for those who have opened)... minor issues, nothing too dramatic,” he said on the sidelines of the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between DepEd, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Philippine Board of Investments (BOI), and Thames International School. The MoA aims to introduce a specialized SHS E-commerce Track.
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“Okay naman ang pasukan, at ‘yun ang utos sa atin ng Pangulo: try to open as many schools as we can para makapasok na ang mga bata (School opening is going well, and that’s the instruction from the President: try to open as many schools as we can so that the children can start attending),” Angara said.
SY 2024-2025 formally opened on July 29 except for schools that were severely affected by the “Carina”-enhanced southwest monsoon.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2024/7/29/dep-ed-observes-smooth-opening-of-classes-for-sy-2024-2025
Postponed school openings, affected learners
Angara noted that among the issues related to this SY’s opening is the postponement of the first day of classes in flood-affected schools.
“We still have 600 schools ang hindi pa nakabukas (that have yet to open),” Angara said.
As of Aug. 1, DepEd data showed 615 schools postponed their openings on July 29. These schools are located in four regions, including the National Capital Region (NCR), Ilocos Region, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon.
DepEd also showed that there are 454,082 learners affected: 241,334 in NCR; 16,890 in Region I; and 195,858 in Region III. The data from Region IV-A is not yet available as of this writing.
These schools are scheduled to open on Aug. 5, according to DepEd.
Enrollment data
As of Aug. 1, DepEd said it has reached 83.28 percent of its target, with 23,087,785 learners enrolled out of 27,722,835.
DepEd said it has observed a 647,038 “increase of enrollees” compared to the July 31 data. “We are optimistic in maintaining the momentum in the coming days,” it added.
Teachers’ concerns
Aside from the shortage of basic education resources such as classrooms and learning materials, among others, groups have been raising concerns about the heavy workload for teachers—especially with the start of the phased implementation of the MATATAG curriculum this school year.
The Teachers' Dignity Coalition (TDC) raised concerns regarding DepEd’s recent directives concerning teachers' workload related to the MATATAG curriculum and urged Angara to suspend the “heavy” teaching load orders.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2024/7/30/angara-urged-by-teachers-to-suspend-heavy-teaching-load-orders
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) also urged the government and DepEd to suspend the implementation of the MATATAG Curriculum or the revised Kindergarten to Grade 10 curriculum.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2024/7/28/group-demands-immediate-halt-of-dep-ed-s-matatag-curriculum-find-out-why
Responding to teachers’ concerns related to the MATATAG curriculum implementation, Angara said DepEd will continue to monitor the situation.
“Pinag-aaralan kasi talaga ‘yung MATATAG, so we’re—tayo naman, it’s only—wala pa kaming hindi pa kami nakatapos ng two weeks sa trabaho. Pero noong unang linggo pa lang naming, nilabas na namin ang Department Order on the MATATAG curriculum (We are really studying the MATATAG [curriculum]. We haven’t even finished two weeks of work yet, but even in our first week, we had already released the Department Order on the MATATAG curriculum),” Angara said.
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Angara noted that “there will be an adjustment period” especially for teachers because it is a “pilot program.”
“At iyon ang maganda sa anumang pilot; kung may nais baguhin, madaling baguhin kasi pilot nga siya (And that’s the good thing about any pilot; if something needs to be changed, it’s easier to adjust because it’s just a pilot),” he added.
Angara assured that DepEd will continue to address the concerns of teachers, especially when it comes to their workload.
While 5,000 administrative assistants were tapped to help the teachers in public schools, Angara said they are overburdened as well.
DepEd data showed there are at least 48,000 public schools nationwide.
Aside from requesting additional manpower, Angara said DepEd will be reducing the number of reports from teachers.
“May pag-aaral kami ngayon na ginagawa, na malawakang study na pa’no mabawasan ang non-teaching workload ng ating mga teachers (We are currently conducting a comprehensive study on how to reduce the non-teaching workload of our teachers),” he added.
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