MEMBERS of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers-National Capital Region Union on Tuesday trooped to the Department of Education central office in Pasig City to demand the immediate suspension of the agency’s memorandum ordering all of its employees to report onsite.

The group said that the order has “counterproductive effects” on the delivery of education as the country still largely employs distance learning modalities.

“Nakakabingi ang pananahimik ng DepEd sa mga pagtatangka nating makipagdiyalogo hinggil sa usaping ito, ngunit may malinaw na mensaheng makukuha rito: Hindi nauunawaan ng pamunuan ng DepEd ang kalagayan at pangangailangan ng mga guro at ng edukasyon sa kabuuan. Kaya walang pakundangan ito kung magpatupad ng mga polisiyang hindi lang basta pahirap sa mga guro, kundi balakid pa sa pagpapahusay ng paghahatid ng serbisyong pang-edukasyon sa gitna ng krisis. Kaya hindi matatawaran ang halaga na patuloy tayong mag-ingay para itulak ang DepEd na katawanin ang interes nating mga guro,” ACT NCR Union President Vladimer Quetua said.

The group also hit DepEd’s failure to prepare schools to host teachers who are still employing purely remote learning modalities.

ACT recalled that in 2020, DepEd and President Duterte reported that P700 million had been allocated for the procurement of internet connection for 7,000 schools, yet teachers claimed that internet problems had been one of their greatest challenges.

“Nearly two years have passed since they announced this, but as per our survey among NCR teachers, 87.6 percent of them said they still don’t have a reliable internet connection at school. Where did the P700 million go? DepEd should report on this,” Quetua said.

On Monday, ACT NCR Union leaders went to the DepEd office to seek a dialogue with their regional director but to no avail.

“DepEd’s unresponsiveness to our organization has already turned violative. It violates teachers’ right to representation in the crafting of policies related to their work. It also completely disregards democratic processes such as consultations. Its refusal to heed the requests for even just a dialogue with duly recognized and accredited teachers’ unions may constitute a breach in labor rights,” ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio said.