IN LINE with the Department of Education’s (DepEd) commitment to expand the welfare and professional growth of its teaching and non-teaching personnel, DepEd announced that they are currently studying a change in policy wherein teachers’ promotion and salary increase will be based in competency and not vacancy in higher positions.

Tasked to manage the change, DepEd’s Human Resource Development Division of the Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development (BHROD-HRDD) have started conducting a review of the career path, as well as recruitment promotion, and reclassification systems, for teaching positions.

Once finalized, the review is expected to result in the issuance of updated policies on hiring and promotion of teachers. DepEd is also looking into submitting a proposal on the improved career path of teachers to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

DepEd in a statement said that in the proposed career advancement, promotions will no longer be dictated by occurrence of natural vacancy in higher positions but upon teachers’ attainment of set competencies, teachers will have a career path from Teacher I to Teacher VII (Salary Grade 11 to Salary Grade 17) and Master Teacher 1 to Master Teacher IV (Salary Grade 18 to Salary Grade 22).

DepEd added that this development shall also mean that teachers will no longer have to shift to the school administration career line for career growth.

Furthermore, the alignment of the promotion system with the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST) will foster professional advancement among teachers as they will attain higher competencies.

In the recent development, BHROD-HRDD is currently in the last leg of the series of consultation and validation workshops with teachers, DepEd officials, and education sector advocacy organizations, including representatives of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers and the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition, before the draft policies are finalized for issuance.

This corner hopes that the final policy for hiring and promotion will really be answering the needs of the teachers in terms of selection, hiring and promotion aligned with the PPST and based on set of standards mutually agreed.