The Teacher's Dignity Coalition (TDC) confirmed that some teachers have given up because of the heavy workload assigned to them besides teaching.
At the Senate hearing on the impact of Covid 19 on education, Chairman Benjo Basas said that based on their dialogue with some principals, they found out that some teachers had expressed a desire to avail of early retirement.
"Kahapon lang may kausap tayo na principal na may mga teachers na gusto nilang magretiro na, 'yung iba nagretiro na. Sa isang paaralan sa General T. de Leon sa Valenzuela City, hindi bababa sa lima ang nag-file na ng resignation; retirement [hindi] dahil nasa retirement age sila kundi dahil sa heavy workload (Yesterday, I had a conversation with the principal that some of his teachers wanted to retire, and some were already retired. In General T. de Leon in Valenzuela City, at least five teachers have filed for resignation; retirement not because they are in retirement age but because of the heavy workload)," said Basas.
Basas specifically referred to the clerical works given to teachers which should have not covered by their work.
"Mapapansin natin na tinukoy ni Basas ang clerical works na ibinibigay sa mga guro na dapat ay hindi na sakop ng kanilang trabaho. Mapapansin natin ang mga teacher na nagsasabi sa Facebook na 'pangarap ko maging teacher, nung teacher na ako 'di pala teacher ang trabaho ko, marami ang clerical (We will notice that Basas referred to the clerical works given to teachers which should have not covered by their work. We will notice the teachers who say on Facebook that 'my dream is to be a teacher, when I become a teacher, I thought I work as a teacher; there are many clerical), "Basas added
In Basas' analysis, it means that the mindset, heart and emotions of the teachers have not been prepared for the work other than teaching.
Moreover, Basas also pointed out that until now the needs of teachers for distance learning such as internet access and gadgets are still not given.
Basas added that another of the complaints of teachers is the non-compliance with the so-called alternative work arrangement because some teachers are obliged to report physically to their schools.
"Maraming division schools at may division na mismong ang superintendent ang nagsabi,'dapat andiyan kayo sa eskwelahan kahit ginagawa ninyo ang inyong mga trabaho (There are many division schools and there is a division where the superintendent himself said, 'you should be there at school even if you do your job)," Basas said.
Basas recommended to the Department of Education to be open to criticisms and dialogue with teachers for more effective and quality education.
Source: Beyond The Chalk
2 Comments
This is very true! Not just clerical works. We are also obliged now to do broadcasting and video lesson editing which are totally foreign to teachers. We are given a day of training to do the task without them thinking that those broadcasters and video editors spent years in training before they became one. Alongside with teaching (which is the only job description we are capable at) piles of reports and paperwork whose due dates are abrupt) they expect from us quality outputs which I guess is next to impossible that even themselves (DepEd high ranking officials) cannot do if they are in our situation. When will DepEd listen to teachers' voicing out? If we air our sentiments there is only one response: "If you cannot bear the system, move out of the system!" Is that the proper way to respond? We are more than willing to make our students learn, just give us the privilaege to do our "real job". If this kind of treatment to teachers will continue, there will be an exodus of teachers in the next days to come. The question is what kind of teachers will stay in the service?
ReplyDeleteI am a school drrm coordinator for 4 years. Having this coordinatorship is a big task beyond my teaching profession in public school..yet this task doesn't give me any additional compensation.
ReplyDelete