MANILA - Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte has endorsed new measures to optimize the workload of public school teachers across the Philippines, aiming to allocate more time for classroom teaching.
According to Philippines News Agency, Secretary Duterte signed DepEd Order No. 05, series of 2024. This order builds on the previously issued DepEd Order No. 2, s. 2024, which aimed to alleviate the administrative tasks of teachers. The new regulation is part of an ongoing effort to enhance educational outcomes by allowing teachers to focus more on teaching rather than administrative duties.
Under the new order, public school teachers are required to render eight hours of service daily, six of which should be dedicated to actual classroom teaching. The remaining two hours are allocated for ancillary tasks, which teachers can perform either within or outside school premises.
The specified ancillary tasks include curriculum planning, curriculum delivery and pedagogy, assessment of learners' progress, and homeroom guidance and management. The order stipulates that tasks not falling within these categories should be handled by the schools' administrative personnel.
Additionally, the order provides for overtime compensation for teachers working beyond the six hours of teaching time, limited to two additional hours per day. The compensation for these extra hours will be calculated weekly and paid quarterly as overload pay. In instances of insufficient funding, the overload compensation will be converted into earned vacation service credits or leave credits.
This initiative reflects the department’s commitment to improving the work conditions for teachers and thereby enhancing the learning experience for students.