Briones urged to reduce teachers’ clerical tasks

A group of teachers urged Education Secretary Leonor Briones to reduce the “clerical tasks” that are being required by the Department of Education (DepEd) from teachers so they can concentrate on their students and improve their teaching.

The Teachers Dignity Coalition said that the new leadership of DepEd under Briones should review the existing tasks required for teachers – especially in public schools – so they can spend more time in engaging their students during class hours and they can focus on their teaching.

TDC National Chairperson Benjo Basas said that the reduction of teachers’ clerical tasks will help them focus on the improvement of their teaching.

Earlier, another teachers group also criticized the DepEd for implementing reforms particularly the Results-based Performance Management System (RPMS) and Learners’ Information System (LIS). The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) urged DepEd to scrap the implementation of both programs citing that these are “dehumanizing for teachers due to additional workload.” Both programs were implemented under the term of former DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro.

ACT stressed that “quality of education in the country is not solely dependent upon the teachers but is more dependent upon the learning environment, learning materials and facilities.” The RPMS, the group claimed, is “designed to squeeze us to do more beyond our limits” by obliging teachers to have an output of more than 100 percent.

Aside from RPMS, teachers are also against the implementation of the LIS. The program, teachers claim, “makes their lives more difficult.”

Basas said that the DepEd – under Briones – should also release “clear-cut policy on teachers’ working hours” and institutionalize measures that will help the “improvement of merit and promotion system in the DepEd.”