DepEd Plans to Add More Staff to Help Teachers

The Department of Education (DepEd) announced on Thursday that it wants to hire more administrative staff to help reduce the workload of public school teachers. This announcement came after the school year 2024-2025 officially started.

In a recent interview, DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara explained that there are not enough administrative assistants, even though 5,000 non-teaching staff have already been hired. He mentioned that some administrative assistants are working at three different schools, which is too much for them to handle.

DepEd is currently figuring out how many more staff members they need by studying ways to lessen teachers’ administrative tasks. Angara said, “We will ask for more help with manpower, and maybe we can reduce the number of reports.”

Challenges with the New Curriculum

Secretary Angara also mentioned that some teachers are finding it challenging to adjust to the new MATATAG curriculum, which is currently being tested. Since the curriculum is still in its pilot phase, Angara said this is the perfect time to make any necessary changes.

Angara said, “There will be an adjustment period because it’s still in the pilot phase. That’s what’s good about the pilot phase because if you want to change something, it can be easily done.”

Start of the New School Year

Overall, DepEd faced only a few minor issues when classes began, despite challenges like the enhanced southwest monsoon and Super Typhoon Carina. However, as of Thursday, 615 public schools have not yet opened due to these issues, affecting over 454,000 students in Metro Manila, Ilocos Region, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon. These schools are expected to start classes on August 5.

DepEd has already reached 83 percent of its enrollment target for the school year, with over 23 million students enrolled out of the 27.7 million goal. This includes 256,643 students in the Alternative Learning System (ALS). The region with the highest number of students enrolled is Calabarzon, with 3.38 million, followed by Central Luzon with 2.45 million, and Metro Manila with 2.36 million.