‘5,000 additional DepEd officers insufficient’

MANILA, Philippines — Creating 5,000 non-teaching positions in the Department of Education (DepEd) is insufficient  to address the shortage of administrative officers in public schools, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said yesterday.

“As of 2024, the current number of administrative officers in public schools nationwide stands at 42,665,” ACT chairman Vladimer Quetua said.

“With the projected addition of 5,000 administrative positions in 2025, the total would only reach 47,665,” he added.

The number is insufficient as there are over 47,000 public schools nationwide, he noted.

“This will evidently prove inadequate, especially in schools with a large student population, and will undeniably result in workload overload for our education support personnel,” Quetua said.

Earlier this week, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) approved DepEd’s request to create 5,000 non-teaching positions this year.

“Our educators already have their plates full. By approving the creation of 5,000 non-teaching positions, we aim to relieve teachers of administrative tasks and allow them to focus on quality instruction,” Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said.

The new administrative officers with salary grade 11 for FY 2024 will be deployed to schools division offices and schools nationwide.

The DBM has long been failing to create teaching and administrative positions in public schools, Quetua said.

“Even EDCOM2 pointed out that the massive shortage in teachers is due to DBM’s failure in the actual creation of teaching items, compounded by its low yearly target of 10,000 new teaching positions. The DepEd has also been called out for its hiring process which caused delays in filling up teacher positions,” Quetua noted.

He urged the DBM and DepEd to “establish a yearly target” to address staff shortages and ensure the “efficient creation and filling of teaching and administrative positions.”

ACT reiterated its demands for the hiring of 94,540 education support personnel and provide them with entry-level pay of P33,000.

In January, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte issued Department Order 002, prohibiting DepEd division and regional heads and school officials from assigning administrative tasks to teachers.

Teachers have been complaining about being assigned administrative tasks despite policies prohibiting the practice.

Some schools have been forced to assign these tasks to teachers due to lack of administrative personnel.

AI classrooms

Meanwhile, the Private Education Assistance Committee (PEAC) yesterday signed an agreement with classroom technology firm Teachmint to install artificial intelligence in select private schools nationwide.

The AI-enabled connected classrooms will be rolled out in 10 participating private schools, equipping them with Teachmint’s proprietary software to facilitate seamless learning across pre-class, in-class and post-class.

Teachmint said the partnership implements cutting-edge technology under the Rethinking Education, Championing and Accelerating School Transformation (RECAST) program.

RECAST is a program spearheaded by the PEAC to support private schools by transforming the teaching and learning experience with technology.

“RECAST supports the private schools to be more effective in addressing the challenges in educational delivery by providing them digital assistance through a partnership with Teachmint,” said PEAC executive director Doris Ferrer.