Sa nakaraang mga taon ng pag-aaral, pinagsasabay ng ating mga guro ang patuturo at mga karagdagang

mga gawain. Ang ganitong araw-araw nila’y

The meeting focused on DepEd’s plans for the implementation of DepEd Order No. 2, series of
2024 (DO2), which Vice President and Secretary Sara Duterte signed on January 26, 2024. DO2
ordered the immediate removal of administrative tasks of public school teachers, “geared toward
building a conducive environment for effective teaching and learning to thrive”. The same policy
provides a 60 day period during which School Division Offices (SDOs) will provide support for
clustering of schools, deployment of non-teaching personnel, insurance of the immediate transfer
and turnover of existing administrative tasks, and the hiring of administrative support personnel.

As highlighted in the EDCOM Year One Report, “Miseducation: The Failed System of
Philippine Education”, teachers lament their inability to focus on teaching their students, given
the burden of 50+ ancillary and administrative tasks, including serving as canteen manager, 4Ps
and school-based feeding coordinator, Gulayan sa Paaralan, among others.

“Laking tulong sa teachers na ‘yung time na mai-aallot niya [sa administrative tasks] ay
maibibigay sa teaching at makakapagbigay ng time sa bata…para sa mga mas makabuluhang
bagay”, said an invited teacher from NCR.

DepEd Officer-In-Charge for the Human Resource and Organizational Development

Undersecretary Wilfredo E. Cabral shared that in the transitory period of sixty days after the
issuance of DO2,Schools Division Offices have been tasked to submit a proposed deployment of
non-teaching personnel, and clustering of schools.

While this was a welcome move, Teacher Julie, a public school teacher in Region 4A clarified:
“Sino – o nasaan – ang sasalo ng trabaho?…Kung tatanggalin siya sa teachers, kailangan may
sasalo…Hindi talaga kakayanin ng isang school head namin at ng isang administrative officer
namin na sasaluhin ang lahat ng administrative tasks ng teachers”.

Principal Mimi, from Region 4A, also shared how, during the transition period, Administrative
Officers (AOs) are already experiencing overwork. “Imagine isang [administrative officer] na
gagawa [ng administrative tasks] sa isang school, tapos ngayon dalawang school na ang gagawan
niya noon. Maraming AO sa amin na gusto nang mag-resign…dahil sa dami ng trabaho”.

EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Senator Sherwin Gatchalian urged the DepEd to explore partnering
with civil society organizations (CSOs) and other stakeholders to properly implement the
directive.
“Consider also the role of Local Government and Civil Society Organizations in all in the grand
scheme of things”, he said. “They can really help them – it will unburden not only DepEd but
also teachers of these matters. So just just include that in your design”, he continued.

EDCOM 2 also stressed the need to ensure equitable allocation of personnel and resources,
particularly the PhP 300 million mentioned by DepEd as the initial budget for AO II positions.
Executive Director Dr. Karol Mark Yee stressed, “In the EDCOM Year One Report, we have
shown how there are severe inequities in the distribution of the Special Education Fund (SEF)
and the school maintenance and other operating expenses budget (MOOE).”

Yee further noted that while DO 2 states that “SDOs and schools may hire personnel under
Contract of Service (COS) or Job Order (JO) which may be charged against MOOE or other
alternative sources of funding”, EDCOM has found in its consultations that in some schools, 30
to 70 percent of their budget is consumed by electricity bills alone.

“We eagerly anticipate the full implementation of DepEd Order No. 2, s. 2024, or the
“Immediate Removal of Administrative Tasks of Public School Teachers” by March 26, 2024, or
no later than 60 days after the release of the policy”, Yee continued.

“We will continue to work closely with DepEd to ensure that administrative tasks will no longer
keep the teachers away from their classrooms. This includes the review of the 1997 Organization
and Staffing Standards for DECS Schools Divisions, Elementary and Secondary Schools, which
has since determined the number of non-teaching plantilla personnel in our schools”, he said.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday lauded the Department of Education’s (DepEd)

decision to free teachers from non-teaching tasks, calling it a move that would
significantly contribute to the overall improvement of the country’s education system.

The DepEd has issued Department Order 002, prohibiting teachers from performing
administrative tasks, such as personnel administration; property and physical facilities
custodianship; general administrative support; financial management; records
management; and the management of programs, such as feeding, school disaster risk
and reduction management, and other related programs.

Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, said the move
would also enable teachers to focus on their lessons and improve their teaching skills.

"This step contributes significantly to the overall improvement of the education system,
potentially creating a possible ripple effect on student outcomes and the education
sector's efficiency," he said in a statement.
The exclusion of non-teaching tasks for public school teachers is a key provision in
Gatchalian's proposed Senate Bill (SB) 2493 or Revised Magna Carta for Public School
Teachers.

SB 2493 also advocates for the hiring of adequate non-teaching staff who will perform
administrative tasks.

It mandates DepEd to fill up all non-teaching positions and determine the standard class
size for each level based on international standards and teachers handling large classes
will receive a corresponding honorarium.

Citing the findings of the 2nd Congressional Commission on Education titled

"Miseducation: The Failed System of Philippine Education," Gatchalian highlighted that
despite efforts to alleviate teachers' workloads, they continue to bear the burden of
about 50 administrative and ancillary tasks.

"Mahalagang hakbang ang pag-aalis ng mga non-teaching tasks sa ating mga guro
upang matiyak na matututukan na nila ang pagtuturo sa ating mga mag-aaral.
Gayundin, ang Revised Magna Carta for Public School Teachers (RMCPST) ay
magtataguyod sa kapakanan ng ating mga guro," (It is worth removing the non-
teaching tasks from our teachers and ensuring that they focus on teaching our students.
The RCMPST will look after the welfare of our teachers),” he said. (PNA)

Emphasizing its commitment to supporting teachers to teach better, the Department of Education
(DepEd) has released a policy removing administrative tasks of public school teachers.

Removing the non-teaching tasks from teachers in public schools was among the highlights of
the second Basic Education Report (BER) presented by Vice President and Education Secretary
Sara Duterte on Jan. 25.
READ:

https://mb.com.ph/2024/1/25/dep-ed-to-issue-an-order-on-removal-of-administrative-tasks-from-
teachers-on-jan-26
In the BER 2024, Duterte underscored the need to remove administrative tasks from teachers and
enable them to maximize their time in actual classroom teaching. “Let’s bring our teachers back
to the classrooms,” she said.

To ensure the effective implementation of the said policy, Duterte said that 10,000 administrative
personnel positions are available for 2023 and 2024.

The day after, on Jan. 26, DepEd formally released the policy through the DepEd Order No. 002,
s. 2024 entitled “Immediate Removal of Administrative Tasks of Public School Teachers.”

READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2024/1/26/dep-ed-orders-immediate-removal-of-administrative-burden-for-
public-school-teachers
As a transitory provision, DepEd said the policy requires Schools Division Offices (SDOs) to
“immediately” implement clustering strategies as well as the deployment of administrative
support personnel to clustered schools.

DepEd also ordered SDOs for the “immediate” transfer of existing administrative tasks of
teachers to school heads and non-teaching personnel and and hiring of administrative support
personnel within a period not exceeding sixty (60) calendar days.

Admin tasks and teachers

The announcement of Duterte to ease the workload of teachers by freeing them from non-
teaching tasks was a move welcomed by many quarters.

READ:

https://mb.com.ph/2024/1/26/teachers-to-greatly-benefit-from-removal-of-non-teaching-duties-
says-advocacy-group
While groups welcomed the move, DepEd was also reminded to ensure the full
implementation of the policy in all schools across the country.
Administrative tasks, as defined by DepEd, refer to “tasks related to the effective and efficient
operations of schools or programs, projects, and services which are not directly related to
teaching and academic learning.”

These tasks, DepEd said, shall be performed by School Heads and non-teaching personnel.

Why issue the policy?

In its Order, DepEd said that the policy was issued because it “fervently believes that the core of
quality basic education is a vibrant and quality teaching workforce.”

“With this commitment, it is imperative to build a work environment for teachers that upholds
and protects their welfare,” DepEd said. “This shall include measures to protect the workload
and working hours of teachers,” it added.

Citing reports and studies, DepEd said that Filipino teachers are being assigned “additional tasks
that shift their focus from teaching.”

For instance, DepEd cited the 2018 Teacher Workload Balance Study which identified
approximately 50 common ancillary services assigned to teachers in addition to their regular
teaching load.

“These extra duties are often the result of understaffed schools being unable to provide sufficient
support services,” DepEd noted.

DepEd also noted that the “absence of standardized guidelines and a mechanism to review these
tasks further compounds the issue.”
Research from various institutions, DepEd said, suggested that the increase in administrative
assignments “significantly impacts teacher workload, ultimately affecting teaching quality and
teacher well-being.”

DepEd said that removing the administrative tasks of teachers, will “enable” them to maximize
their time in actual classroom teaching.

“With this endeavor, they shall be able to focus on the teaching and learning process and become
effective facilitators of learning,” DepEd said.

Moreover, DepEd said that this initiative will also help “protect and uplift” the welfare and well-
being of public school teachers to support them to teach better which in turn shall “realize quality
learning among the Filipino learners.”

DepEd said that the policy aims to “enable teachers to focus on their core function of teaching
through the removal of administrative tasks assigned to teachers.”

The issuance, DepEd added, also aims to ensure that teachers' workload and working hours are
“maximized for actual classroom teaching and tasks incidental to their normal teaching duties.”

Implementing guidelines
The immediate removal of administrative tasks of public school teachers will cover all DepEd-
employed teachers engaged in classroom teaching, on a full-time basis, under permanent,
provisional, or substitute status in all public elementary and secondary schools.

DepEd said the policy will be implemented across all governance levels --- including DepEd
schools, Schools Division Offices (SDOs), Regional Offices (ROs), and Central Office (CO).

As stated in the policy, DepEd said that administrative tasks shall be “removed from the
workload of teachers, without prejudice to the teacher ancillary tasks as defined by other DepEd
issuances.”

School Heads and non-teaching personnel, DepEd said, shall have the “sole responsibility” to
perform the administrative tasks which may include personnel/administration, property/physical
facilities custodianship, general administrative support, financial management, records
management, and program management such as feeding, school disaster risk reduction
management and other related programs.

To augment the non-teaching personnel requirements of schools, DepEd said that SDOs may
cluster deployed non-teaching personnel by the deployment Parameters issued by the Bureau of
Human Resource and Organizational Development (BHROD).

SDOs and schools may also hire personnel under a Contract of Service (COS) or JO (Job Order)
which may be charged either against Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) or
other alternative sources of funding.

DepEd has said that a grievance mechanism where “concerns, complaints, and/or violations
arising from the implementation of this policy” is also made available.
Teachers have been feeling “overburdened” by the additional “ancillary and
administrative tasks” given to them by the Department of Education (DepEd)
and various government agencies, which could eventually hamper their
professional development, according to the Second Congressional
Commission on Education (Edcom II).
The commission compiled all the tasks assigned to public school teachers by
virtue of laws, department orders and policies in its periodic report titled
“Miseducation: The Failed System of Philippine Education.”
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It noted that these included making them coordinators for the following: campus
journalism programs, school grievance committees, boy and girl scouts, “Gulayan sa
Paaralan” program, Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program, disaster risk reduction and
sports programs.
“[Teachers] have conveyed that, given the additional tasks, their working hours are
insufficient,” the Edcom II report said, citing the commission’s consultations with
public school teachers.
“However, they find it challenging to voice these concerns within the school settings,”
it added. Teachers also observed that the tasks given to the bids and awards committee
have also been passed on to them, Edcom II said.
“In other words, the prescribed six-hour teaching load, coupled with the designated
two-hour allocation for teaching-related tasks and preparation, is routinely exceeded
just to meet the demands of daily deliverables,” it noted.
Hindrance to quality education
It added that the nonteaching tasks could hinder them from delivering quality
education and prevent them from pursuing their professional development.
The additional tasks were also not in line with Republic Act No. 4670, or the Magna
Carta for Public School Teachers, which stated that a teacher engaged in “actual
classroom instruction” should not be required to render more than six hours of
classroom teaching in a day, according to the commission.
DepEd made a commitment in 2019 to improve teachers’ working conditions by
reviewing their workload.
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As an “initial solution,” it also requested the Department of Budget and Management

to create nonteaching positions to undertake the ancillary and administrative tasks,
resulting in 5,000 positions deployed in 2020. However, the report pointed out that
this deployment only addressed a fraction of the nonteaching and administrative
tasks identified by DepEd.

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