THE DEPARTMENT of Education pledged to support teachers who will render election duty in May.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones said that the department will give priority to the health and welfare of teachers.

“We want to ensure that the necessary assistance to the field offices and schools, especially to teachers who will serve as BEIs, will be provided by the central office. We want our personnel to be equipped with adequate information and technical and legal assistance along the way,” Briones said.

Marcelo Bragado, Jr., head of the Election Task Force, said that 647,812 DepEd personnel will serve as poll workers on election day.

Of these, 319,317 are members of electoral boards, 200,627 are EB support staff, 38,989 are DepEd supervisor officials, 87,162 are DESO support staff and 1,717 are members of the Board of Canvassers.

Officials said that DepEd is actively coordinating with the Commission on Elections, Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines for the safety of the electoral board members and voters.

There will be 106,439 clustered precincts in 37,219 polling centers nationwide.

The DepEd’s Election Task Force Operation and Monitoring Center will be in operation starting at 1 p.m. on May 8 until May 10.

The center will ensure close coordination and consultation between the Comelec, DepEd and its field offices. Legal, technical, and other assistance will be given to teachers who will encounter problems before, during and after the elections.