Human Rights Online Philippines

Physical reporting of teachers, unnecessary, impractical

After we have released the appeal to the Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Briones to extend the work from a home arrangement for teachers yesterday, some of the schools that initially required their teachers to report physically on Monday canceled the order. Many of those field officials said that they will be waiting for the final order from DepEd, which means that teachers will continue to work from home until the release of a clear and uniformed instruction from the DepEd.

We appreciate such gestures from school heads and some field officials. We, however, call on the DepEd Central Office to respond to our formal query and appeal sent to the Office of the Secretary and some members of the DepEd Execom yesterday. In a critical moment like this, every instruction must be clear so as not to create confusion or ambiguity. This is beyond the tasks expected from us, but more so it concerns the health and safety of our teachers and the general public.

We are in the belief that requiring teachers to report to school beginning Monday, June 22 is unnecessary, impractical and will just place them and other people in a health hazard. As we have earlier said, all the tasks required from us during this period may be done at home and there is no need for physical reporting. The DepEd has to prove that the system is ready for distance learning modality- and if they require the teachers to report physically to render tasks that can be done distantly, it defeats the idea of virtual readiness.

Again, we call on Secretary Leonor Briones to order the field offices of DepEd from regions to schools to halt teachers’ reporting on Monday and extend the work from home arrangement until physical reporting is necessary and possible. Lastly, we reiterate our willingness to sit for a virtual even actual dialogue to shed light on this and other matters.

Reference:
Emmalyn Policarpio, Secretary-General
0926-3143106

For other details:
Benjo Basas, National Chairperson
0927-3356375

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