The Department of Education (DepEd) announced on Monday that it will reduce 57% of the 174 teacher paperwork forms to reduce their administrative tasks.
In a press release, the agency said that public school teachers will soon be required to regularly complete only 5 forms and may also complete 31 ancillary tasks and 39 teacher-related assignments under DepEd order no. 005 s. 2024.
“Teachers have long raised concerns about excessive paperwork, and this policy directly responds to that. Reducing their bureaucratic workload will not only improve their well-being but also enhance the quality of instruction they provide to our learners,” DepEd Sec. Sonny Angara said in a statement.
The education agency shall issue a new department order to implement new guidelines, accompanied by nationwide orientation sessions to ensure smooth implementation at the school level.
Angara said that the initiative is part of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr’s broader education reform agenda that aims to enhance the public school system’s efficiency while addressing the problem of overworked teachers.
DepEd shall also create a data management framework that will set the standard parameters for data collection in all schools.
The said framework will eliminate redundant and outdated documentation requirements while ensuring essential school management information is accurately recorded.
A study by IDInsight found that 42% of teachers work more than 50 hours per week, dedicating an average of 17.8 hours to ancillary duties and 8.1 hours to program-related tasks.
Much of the time spent was dedicated to filling out school forms and reports, reducing the time available for lesson planning, student engagement, and instructional activities.
‘Hiring administrative personnels’
Angara earlier announced on Mar. 6 that DepEd will hire 7,062 school-based administrative personnel under contracts of service to ease administrative tasks for teachers.
The policy is aligned with DepEd order no. 002 s. 2024 which mandatorily removes administrative tasks from public school teachers and DepEd order no. 005 s. 2024 which rationalizes teachers’ workload and provides guidelines for compensating teaching overload.
“Our teachers belong in the classroom, not behind paperwork. By ensuring that every school has the necessary support staff, we are taking a concrete step toward making the learning environment more focused, effective, and responsive to the needs of our students,” Angara said in a statement.
The agency will allocate additional Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) funds to cover the salaries of the hired personnel.
Their compensation will be based on the prevailing regional minimum wage, multiplied by 22 working days every month.
The contract also has a 12.5% premium that will be paid in tranches.
The personnel will assist with school operations such as preparing reports, coordinating school programs and activities, and handling other clerical tasks assigned by the school head.
Applicants who are interested must have at least a senior high school diploma and basic administrative skills with no work experience or training required.
For renewals, the personnel must have met performance expectations based on their Terms of Reference and evaluation by their respective Schools Division Offices (SDOs).
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