THE Second Congressional Commission on Education or EDCOM 2 wants the Department of Education to ensure the full implementation of its policy removing the administrative tasks from public school teachers.

Based on Department Order No. 2, teachers will be freed from administrative tasks geared toward building a conducive environment for effective teaching and learning to thrive.

The same policy provides a 60-day period during which School Division Offices will provide support for the clustering of schools, deployment of non-teaching personnel, insurance of the immediate transfer and turnover of existing administrative tasks, and the hiring of administrative support personnel.

As highlighted in the EDCOM Year One Report, Miseducation: The Failed System of Philippine Education, teachers lament their inability to focus on teaching their students, given the burden of 50+ ancillary and administrative tasks, including serving as canteen managers, 4Ps, and school-based feeding coordinator, Gulayan sa Paaralan, among others.

DepEd Officer-In-Charge for the Human Resource and Organizational Development Undersecretary Wilfredo Cabral shared that in the transitory period of 60 days after the issuance of DO2, Schools Division Offices have been tasked to submit a proposed deployment of non-teaching personnel and clustering of schools.

At the same time, EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Senator Sherwin Gatchalian urged the DepEd to explore partnering with civil society organizations and other stakeholders to properly implement the directive.

“Consider also the role of Local Government and Civil Society Organizations in all in the grand scheme of things”, he said.

“They can help them — it will unburden not only DepEd but also teachers of these matters. So just just include that in your design”, he continued.