THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers wrote to the Department of Education to present its position on DepEd Order No. 34, series of 2022 or the “School Calendar and Activities for School Year 2022-2023.”

ACT said that the order imposes a work schedule that is burdensome and violates the labor rights of teachers.

It asked the DepEd to amend the school calendar for School Year 2022-2023 to respect the teachers’ right to two months of proportional vacation pay and grant additional compensation or service credits for exigent work set outside the school days in the school calendar.

The group also raised the lack of health and safety measures for face-to-face classes, and the order’s “myopic” view of education recovery that it claimed to lengthen class time without due consideration to teachers’ and learners’ mental health and holistic development.

It sought additional compensation for the lost one to three weeks of teachers’ leave/proportional vacation pay due to the extended workdays of School Year 2021-2022.

ACT also sought stronger school health and safety measures particularly for the full face-to-face classes by November 2, 2022.