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Teachers to Angara: Suspend excessive working hours, MATATAG Curriculum policies
Teachers to Angara: Suspend excessive working hours, MATATAG Curriculum policies
A group of teachers on Saturday, Aug. 10, called on Education Secretary Sonny Angara to promptly “suspend the implementation” of two Department of Education (DepEd) Orders, citing that these directives have resulted in “a burdensome workload” for teachers.
The Teachers' Dignity Coalition (TDC) urged Angara to halt the implementation of DepEd Order No. 5, s. 2024, which sets guidelines for teachers' workload and the supposed teaching overload pay, and DepEd Order No. 10, s. 2024, which pertains to the MATATAG Curriculum.
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“These two policies, especially DepEd Order No. 5, which became the legal basis for burdening our teachers under the MATATAG Curriculum, must be immediately stopped,” TDC National Chairperson Benjo Basas said in Filipino.
TDC noted that DepEd Order No. 5, issued on April 27, promised teaching overload pay for teachers who exceed six hours of classroom instruction. However, TDC lamented that it also mandates that teachers must teach for six hours daily, which the group says violates the spirit and letter of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers (RA 4670).
“The law states that teachers can be required to teach for up to six hours, but it does not say that they must be made to teach for the full six hours; that's a different matter,” Basas added.
Basas, a teacher from Caloocan City, said that even in previous DepEd policies, there was no such requirement, “which is why we only teach for four to five hours and go home after six hours at school.”
Detrimental to teachers’ welfare
TDC has opposed this policy from the day it was released, fearing it would be “detrimental to the welfare of teachers” and would “undermine the hard-won policies” they had successfully established under previous DepEd administrations.
“We are concerned that because the requirement is now for six hours of teaching every day, it might be extended to seven or eight classes with almost no break,” Basas said. “This is difficult for our teachers, especially with so many students in each class,” he added.
The group also expressed concerns that this policy could lead to multiple lesson preparations or the assignment of subjects and grade levels that do not align with teachers' training. TDC also raised the possibility of schools declaring teachers excess and transferring them to other stations.
The group warned that the policy allowing teachers to stay for only six hours in school, prescribed by CSC Resolution 080096 in 2008 and enforced by DepEd since the tenure of former Secretary Jesli Lapus, might be “neglected.”
‘MATATAG' as a symbol of burden
Basas noted that these concerns have become a reality with the implementation of the MATATAG Curriculum, which has incorporated additional programs that teachers are also required to teach.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2023/8/12/understanding-dep-ed-s-matatag-k-to-10-curriculum
He was referring to the National Mathematics Program (NMP) and the National Reading Program (NRP), which are integrated into regular classes.
The group argued that this integration has led to a “more congested curriculum” and has “forced” some teachers to teach subjects like Mathematics and Reading, even if they are not familiar with them—a situation that further burdens both teachers and students.
TDC also pointed out that DepEd Order No. 10 mandates shortened class hours of 40 to 45 minutes per subject across all grade levels—even those not included in the first phase of the MATATAG Curriculum implementation.
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“Because of this, teachers are now required to teach up to eight classes, and if they don’t reach six hours of teaching, they are given additional teaching loads in other subjects or year levels… it wasn’t like this before, as we only handled four to five sections,” Basas said.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2024/7/28/group-demands-immediate-halt-of-dep-ed-s-matatag-curriculum-find-out-why
TDC also lamented the “lack of provision” for learning materials under the revised K to 10 curriculum.
“There have been changes with the MATATAG Curriculum, but no provisions have been made for the tools needed by teachers and students,” Basas said. “Now, it’s up to our teachers and principals to find solutions,” he added.
TDC noted that DepEd Order No. 10, s. 2024, is a comprehensive 69-page document that addresses not only the content and strategies of Philippine Basic Education but also its principles, objectives, philosophy, and overall direction, with an emphasis on inclusivity and the integration of recent legislation.
However, Basas pointed out that the term “MATATAG” has become a “symbol of burden” for the teachers who are the primary implementers of the program.
“This entire curriculum, which was funded, prepared, and studied by DepEd and experts, is now being seen as a burden by those who are supposed to implement it,” Basas said. “This means there is really a problem,” he added.
TDC is anticipating a meeting with DepEd officials soon to discuss the concerns of teachers related to workload and the new curriculum.
“Secretary Angara is new to DepEd, so we want to explain these complications to him directly in a discussion,” Basas said.
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