THE DEPARTMENT of Education has increased vacation service credits from 15 to 30 days under the new guidelines to further support public school teachers.

DepEd Order No. 13, s. 2024 was signed by Education Secretary Sonny Angara. These updated guidelines streamline the administration of VSCs, which allow teachers to offset absences due to illness or personal reasons, or to recover salary deductions during vacation periods.

Under the new order, it entitles incumbent teachers with at least one year of service, as well as newly hired teachers appointed within four months after the start of classes, to 30 days of VSCs annually.

Moreover, newly hired teachers whose appointments are issued four months after the start of classes will receive 45 days of VSCs per year.

DepEd also said that teachers assigned to perform ancillary tasks or additional teaching-related duties outside of their regular hours will also benefit from the new guidelines.

“In cases where teaching overload is not compensated through overload pay, teachers will be credited with 1.25 hours of VSC for every hour of additional teaching, on top of their 30-day entitlement,” the agency added.

Approval of VSCs will require authorization from the Schools Division Superintendent or another designated authority.