Wednesday, June 18, 2008 New sked ‘to affect high schools’
ELEMENTARY classes will not be affected by the new six-hour actual classroom teaching schedule the Department of Education (DepEd) will implement, but it is likely to affect high school classes, the DepEd regional director said.
DepEd 7 Director Carolino Mordeno explained that secondary level classes would be affected by the new policy since high school classes extend beyond six hours.
“In some aspects, it would. In some high schools, teachers render more than six hours in teaching because the high school curriculum is more than six hours,” he told
Sun.Star Cebu.
Mordeno added that with the shortage of teachers in some secondary schools, high school teachers work extra hours just to meet the required number of hours for the high school curriculum.
Last Monday, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus announced the new six-hour actual classroom teaching schedule for public school teachers, which was based on a memorandum on the guidelines on how many classroom teaching hours public school teachers should have.
Previously, public school teachers were required to render work for more than six hours a day provided that they are given additional compensation.
This time, however, public school teachers would be required to teach for six hours and use the remaining two hours for “teacher-related activities.”
The new teaching schedule will be implemented in line with the required eight-hour work schedule.
Teacher-related activities include preparing lesson plans and instructional materials, attending workshops and seminars, and mentoring and coaching of students.
When before public school teachers were required to spend their eight hours in school, they are now given the option to spend the two hours outside of school and do their education-related work elsewhere.
However, overtime pay for teachers can only be claimed for actual teaching or for work performed within the school premises.
The policy on the new teaching hours is in accordance with Section 13 of Republic Act 4670 or the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers. The new guidelines would also implement the Civil Service Commission’s ruling on the six-hour classroom teaching.
School heads would be asked to assign teaching loads to teachers to fully utilize the six-hour actual classroom teaching.
A teacher with less than six hours of actual classroom teaching will be required to render additional hours of teacher-related activities to complete the six hours of classroom teaching.
By providing more hours for education-related activities, teachers would have more time to innovate and enhance classroom teaching, said Lapus.
Mordeno said that he was happy with the new working schedule, adding that this would give teachers more time for rest.
“It is a relief on the part of the teachers,” he said.
With teachers being allowed to accomplish their teacher-related activities at home, Mordeno said this will help assure that teachers would not slack off and refrain from
doing their tasks at home.
“Yes, they will work. Even during the old eight-hour schedule, teachers would stay up to 12 midnight just to finish work,” he added. (EPB)
