THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers urged the Department of Education to hire more teachers to reduce classroom sizes and ensure safety when schools reopen in September.

“As of February 2021, there were more than 26,000 unfilled teaching items in the Department of Education while there is a provision in the 2022 General Appropriations Act for 10,000 new teaching items,” Vladimer Quetua, the group’s chairperson, said.

“The snail-paced sluggishness of the DepEd to hire teachers has become a perennial problem. From 2016 to 2020, there were yearly additional 1,500 to 2,500 net unfilled items under the DepEd, vis-a-vis the newly created items per year. That is why they have a bloated backlog in hiring teachers,” Quetua added.

Reducing class sizes, he added, is important in ensuring safety during face-to-face classes and in addressing the learning gaps caused by the two-year school closure.

ACT said teacher shortage is most felt in urban areas where class size can reach up to 60 to 70 students.

“Again we are calling on the DepEd to fast-track the hiring of teachers before school opening to somehow relieve our educational system of overcrowded classrooms. Budget has already been allotted for this so it is not an additional expense,” Quetua said.