DepEd Pushed to Honor Magna Carta: Compensate Teachers’ Summer Efforts

A teacher group has asked the Department of Education to give extra pay to public school teachers who work more than the usual school days. Many teachers keep working even during vacation.

In a meeting on Monday, ASSERT members suggested going back to the old school calendar. This would help teachers have a longer summer break and give extra pay to those who work during this time.

ASSERT’s leader, Fidel Fababier, said teachers do a lot of work during their breaks, like helping with early enrollment and going to training sessions. Teachers don’t just “rest” between school years.

Fababier also said that the Department of Education doesn’t follow the rule that says teachers should get 25% more pay when they work outside of school days. The money for overtime pay in the budget is not used and becomes savings every year.

On Monday, the first day of Holy Week, the group held a meeting to talk about the problems teachers face. They said the government doesn’t follow the 1996 law for public school teachers correctly. The law says that teachers should get extra pay for extra work after teaching for at least six hours a day.