MANILA -- To provide adequate manpower and support to our educators in giving quality instruction to learners, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman has approved the creation of 5,000 non-teaching positions in various Department of Education (DepEd) schools nationwide.
"Under the leadership of our Vice President and concurrent DepEd Secretary Inday Sara Duterte, nag-release po ang DepEd ng roadmap— the MATATAG Agenda. Makikita doon pati ang mga kailangang tugunan natin in terms of buildings, teachers, facilities, etc. Nakalatag po lahat sa kanilang roadmap. So, we just want to be consistent with that," Secretary Pangandaman said.
The 5,000 non-teaching items created consist of 3,500 Administrative Officer (AO) II positions intended to relieve teachers of administrative tasks that support operations and 1,500 Project Development Officer (PDO) I positions which shall complement the AO II and other non-teaching personnel in schools by facilitating the implementation of various programs, projects, and activities initiated by schools or mandated by the DepEd Central Office.
AO II and PDO I positions are entitled to a basic salary of Php 27,000 (SG-11) based on the Fourth Tranche Monthly Salary Schedule for Civilian Personnel of the National Government.
"Malaking tulong po ito sa ating mga guro na ma-unload sila sa mga administrative work at maka-focus sa pagtuturo sa mga estudyante. By hiring non-teaching staff, our educators will be able to save a lot of time and effort," Secretary Pangandaman added.
The said items will be deployed in various Schools Division Offices (SDOs) in the following regions: Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), CARAGA, National Capital Region (NCR), Regions I, II, III, IV-A, IV-B, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, and XII.
The appropriate funding requirements for the filled positions out of said created positions shall be charged against the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF) in the FY 2023 General Appropriations Act (GAA), while the Retirement and Life Insurance Premium is chargeable against Automatic Appropriations.
It can be recalled that during the 2022 Presidential campaign, President Bongbong Marcos noted that many teachers were performing tasks that were unrelated to their job which resulted in fatigue and burn-out that affected their quality of teaching. He said reducing the non-teaching load of teachers will help maintain a high quality of education in public schools and will help protect their mental health.
“We need to hire more non-teaching personnel who are qualified for the job, yung tinutukoy ko is yung mga sobrang ginagawa ng mga guro na hindi naman dapat sila gumagawa,” the President said in a statement.
“We can give teachers more time to prepare their lesson plans. Sometimes, our teachers also serve as the librarian, nurse, we even receive reports that some are also in charge of the canteen,” he added. (DBM)
