THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers asked the Department of Education to release the guidelines on the grant of service credits to compensate for the extended work rendered by public school teachers for School Year 2020-2021.

“Time is of the essence when it comes to salary and benefits, especially now that we are in the middle of a pandemic. We clearly remember Education Secretary Leonor Briones claiming that the release of benefits is always timely but the school year that forced us to render over two months-worth of overtime is already over, and we still haven’t gotten our overtime pay and the promised service credits; nor have they released the guidelines for these,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, said.

In a letter to DepEd, ACT inquired on the status of the agency’s promise to request funds from the Department of Budget and Management to pay for the 25 percent overtime premium of public school teachers.

“Our public school teachers are tired and penniless, all for the sake of education continuity. Why is it that when it comes to teachers’ salaries and benefits, the government is always complacent? The school year may have officially ended, but our demand for a fair and sufficient compensation is not yet over,” Basilio said.

He urged the Education department to issue the guidelines on the grant of service credits  immediately because the need for ample compensation “becomes more urgent by the day.”

“Napakaraming pangako na rin ang napako ng DepEd. Huwag sanang patunayan ng DepEd na hanggang salita lang sila at palaging kulang na kulang sa gawa,” Basilio said.