To alleviate the administrative burden on public school teachers, the Department of Education (DepEd) has announced the recruitment of approximately 5,000 new non-teaching personnel, according to Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte.
Last week, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) granted approval for the establishment of these positions. Among the newly created roles are 3,500 Administrative Officer (AO) II positions and 1,500 Project Development Officer (PDO) I positions, both of which are entry-level positions. These positions come with a monthly salary of SG 11, amounting to P27,000.
Vice President Duterte made this announcement during the commencement of National Teachers’ Month, emphasizing that these additional non-teaching roles aim to alleviate the administrative responsibilities that have been diverting teachers’ attention away from classroom instruction. Interim guidelines to reduce the administrative workload of teachers will also be issued by the DepEd.
Furthermore, the DepEd has submitted a request for a greater allocation for teaching overload pay, and the guidelines for this are currently under review by the DBM and the Civil Service Commission.
In an event inaugurating the month-long celebration of National Teachers’ Month, Vice President Duterte expressed her appreciation for teachers’ invaluable contributions to the nation, acknowledging that their efforts cannot be measured solely in monetary terms.
The DBM has planned the deployment of these non-teaching personnel to various Schools Division Offices in several regions, including the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), CARAGA, National Capital Region (NCR), Regions I, II, III, IV-A, IV-B, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, and XII.
Public school teachers have long grappled with administrative tasks that divert their focus away from their primary role of facilitating student learning. These tasks often extend their work hours, despite the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers specifying a maximum of six-hour workdays.
A 2019 study conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) titled “Pressures on Public School Teachers and Implications on Quality” cautioned against assigning administrative responsibilities to public school teachers, as they detract from their core function of delivering effective education. The study also highlighted that public school teachers frequently find themselves tasked with various government programs, including mass immunizations, community mapping, conditional cash transfers, deworming, feeding programs, population census, anti-drug initiatives, and election-related duties.
