THE Teachers’ Dignity Coalition asked the Department of Education to clarify its order on the removal of posters and other materials on classroom walls.

DepEd Order No. 21, s. 2023 provides that school grounds, classrooms and all its walls, and other school facilities should be clean and free from unnecessary artwork, decorations, tarpaulin, and posters at all times.

“Clearly, the purpose of the directive is to remove extraneous decorations, posters, and other materials that cluttered the classrooms and learning spaces of our children. It also serves as a reminder to refrain from using the school as a platform for commercial and even political advertisements,” the group said in a statement.

“Additionally, this action would lower the expenses teachers incur when setting up their classrooms or reduce the tendency to solicit funds during Brigada Eskwela,” it added.

The TDC, however, said posters have educational advantages to learners.

“As younger children who struggled in public schools, most of us learned the basic concepts partly from the posters and charts displayed in our classrooms,” the group said.

“These posters ranged from the color wheel and the ABCs in the primary years to the parts of speech, planets of the Solar System, and national heroes in the intermediate years all the way up to the periodic table of elements, the world map, and the characters of Noli and El Fili in our high school. In a typical Filipino classroom, these posters are a permanent fixture,” it added.

“We thus request that the DepEd promptly clarify this Order and guide the field as to what is and is not necessary based on the aforementioned considerations. It’s likely that people will take it too literally and tear down all of the educational posters in their classrooms, even those in Kindergarten through Grade 3, where they have been proven to be useful,” the group said.