THE Department of Education (DepEd) implementing six hours of actual classroom teaching this school year is a win for teachers, as it finally aligns with the 58-year-old Magna Carta for Public School Teachers, said a public school teacher in Cebu.
Resty Cardona, school governance chairperson at Moalboal National High School (MNHS), said this move will relieve public school teachers of some pressure.
“We are glad that this policy is now in effect since the RA (Republic Act) 4670, or Magna Carta for Public School Teachers, was signed into law (in 1966). Quite long, teachers felt that we are underpaid despite the services rendered of more than eight hours, and performing ancillary tasks which are teaching-related or even outside our job description,” said Cardona in a chat interview on Saturday, July 27, 2024.
Cardona said she is confident that teachers will be compensated rightfully when performing tasks beyond the allowable time, conforming to the rules and regulations stipulated in the DepEd policy.
This order, she said, is advantageous since their schools are implementing shifting classes due to the lack of classrooms.
Likewise, Carina, not her real name, an elementary teacher in Moalboal, said that with this new order., she anticipates having more time for herself
“(Before,) We brought school work to the house which was not good because even my husband got angry because I was only doing schoolwork. There was no time for family anymore,” she said.
Last April 29, DepEd released Department Order 5 that streamlined the teaching workload of a public school teacher from eight hours of work per day; “of which six hours shall be devoted to actual classroom teaching and two hours shall be allocated for work incidental to the normal teaching duties which may be spent within or outside the school premises.”
Classes for the upcoming school year will start on Monday, July 29.
The Magna Carta for Public School Teachers, signed by former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in 1966, focuses on the holistic well-being of teachers by ensuring fair and equitable distribution of workload.
Magna Carta
Section 13 also states that actual classroom teaching hours shall not be more than six hours a day except in exigencies of service where teachers may render more than six hours but not exceeding eight hours of actual classroom teaching a day.
The order also stated that any actual teaching performed beyond six hours, as well as any other activities outside their normal teaching duties, as stipulated in Section 14, shall be compensated accordingly.
Orientation
DepEd Cebu Province Assistant Schools Division Superintendent Michelangelo Sauro said they began orienting teachers on the new DepEd order last week.
“Bag-o man gud ni nga work or policy scheme sa mga amestra nato karon. (This is a new work policy for our teachers),” he said in an interview with SunStar Cebu’s online news and commentary program, “Beyond the Headlines,” on Friday, July 26. / CDF