PORAC -- A TOTAL of 43 returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will be given permanent teaching positions in public schools near their residences in the provinces of Aurora, Bulacan, Bataan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija and Tarlac.
Launched in 2014, the “Sa ‘Pinas Ikaw ang Mam at Sir” (Spims) Program by the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), aims to assist OFWs who are Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) passers working abroad as professional teachers or household service workers to be employed as teachers when they return in the Philippines.
This program is a collaboration of Dole, Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and the Professional Regulation Commission.
For the School Year 2017-2018, a total of 542 OFWs passed the evaluation and endorsement of Dole by having passed the LET, taken refresher courses, or taught within the last five years. They will automatically be given permanent Teacher I items, and be assigned to schools with shortages.
Schools Division Offices are instructed to conduct thorough interview and demonstration teaching and are tasked to address noted gaps appropriately through the conduct of teacher trainings and other apt interventions.
Of the 43, 25 teachers will be assigned in the elementary level while 18 will be assigned in the Junior High School level.
Jenalyn Santiago worked as a teacher in Brunei Darussalam for six years. She returned to the Philippines last year and no longer has to leave her hometown in Barangay Manibaug Libutad.
Santiago, 27, is now teaching at the Francisco Henson Elementary School in Sta. Cruz, Porac.
Santiago is one of the qualified OFWs hired by the Department of Education last year upon their return from their work abroad under the Spims Program.
“[The] Spims program is a great help for us (OFWs) who really want to go back home. It has a big impact in my life especially now that I am already teaching in public school I can be able to shape our future generations and serve our country and at the same time, I get to spend more time with my family,” Jenalyn said. (PR)