“Let us bring our teachers back to the classrooms.”
In her Basic Education Report 2024, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Z. Duterte made assertions such as these. Along with that, this was a compelling statement.
But this remark has two prominent faces. Like a coin, it has two sides that are closely related but so different.
One face shows their “freedom” from all other administrative work so they could only focus on teaching. The other face displays the more considerable responsibility attached to focusing on teaching alone.
For decades, the teachers in public schools laid out their sentiments on the other work they need to do in school. These are the programs, projects, or activities they need to handle throughout the year.
These programs, projects, or activities, however, have one direction – for the learners. They are always geared towards the development of our learners.
The School-Based Feeding Program is definitely for the health improvement of our learners. Campus journalism is for the development of the reportorial skills of the learners. The School Disaster Risk Reduction Management Program is for the safety of the learners.
When it comes down to it, the focus is always on the learners. However, the energy that teachers have is depleted by their obligations, which include devoting time, resources, and effort.
Prior to even beginning to teach, they are exhausted. Feeling completely dry. Old and worn.
Outside of class time, they're constantly busy with something.
So, VP Sara found a solution to this dilemma. She said DepEd will remove administrative tasks from the teachers. She said around 5,000 administrative personnel will be hired in 2024, and schools will be provided with an additional budget so they can hire necessary administrative support staff.
True to her words, a day after, a memorandum was issued to that effect.
The other face is yet a big responsibility for teachers. The removal of other responsibilities means they will only focus on their learners so they have all the time to innovate and be more creative.
This means they will improve on how they deliver their classes. It is expected that classes will be more ICT-facilitated and ICT-integrated.
The utilization of technology in the learning process is what really excites students of this generation. Teachers today need to be more proficient with every piece of technology in the classroom. More often, they will reinvent themselves.
It is expected that they will put more emphasis on learners’ knowledge and values. Since they will only be focusing on teaching, this means the national achievement test and other similar assessment tests will enrich. This means the learners’ behavior will improve.
Now that they have all the time for their learners, there’ll be no excuse for learners not performing well. By then, they could detect where the problem comes from and how to mend such issues.
This will be the era of interventions for learners. What do teachers need to apply to get learners’ attention? What do they need to do to make learners love schooling? This will be their big challenge.
This is more taxing than doing all the administrative work. But this is the primary role of teachers. That’s why they are called teachers.