THE TEACHERS’ Dignity Coalition asked the Department of Education to clarify teachers’ tasks during school break.

“One week to go bago mag-May 2. Wala pa ring paglilinaw ang DepEd. Naiipit sa kalituhan ang school heads, ayon sa iba sumunod na lang daw para safe,” Benjo Basas, the group’s chairperson, said.

The group said that some school officials ordered their teachers to report to school during the election break as confirmed by the comments in their public posts.

“Bakit may mga school officials na nagsasabing kailangang mag-report ang mga gurong walang election-related activities? Hindi ba’t ayon sa school calendar ay walang pasok ang bata at guro? Hindi ba’t naka-mark ng ‘X’ ang mga araw na ito? Kung sakaling papasok ang mga guro, hindi ba’t lalabis na sa 209 school days ang ipapasok ng mga guro? Hindi ba’t secured na ng Comelec ang mga polling precincts/places matapos ang final testing and sealing ng VCMs? At pinakahuli, ano naman ang gagawin ng mga guro sa paaralan sa mga panahong iyan?” the TDC said in a Facebook post on Monday.

Basas said that the agency needs to clarify their instructions.

“That advisory from DepEd with its poster and caption say that teachers who do not have election-related duties will still need to report to schools on those days, while the school calendar declared them as election break,” he added.