NEWLY installed Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara revealed on Wednesday, the initial moves of the department for the career growth of public teachers.
During the post-SONA Discussions on July 24, Angara said career progression has been a long-term complaint of the teachers that needs to be resolved.
“We are finalizing that document along with the three other agencies aside from DepEd, the Professional Regulation Commission, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and the Commission on Higher Education to have the career progression,” Angara said.
President Ferdinand Marcos on his SONA on Monday said funds have been allocated to accelerate the career growth of teachers to ensure they will no longer retire as Teacher I.
The expanded career progression system laid out two career paths: teaching or school administration tracks.
Angara said this will give the teachers something to look forward to as they are often pirated for better opportunities due to the long time they get promoted.
“It’s something which will encourage and incentivize our teachers, and we expect a growth performance because of these innovations and development which the President has approved,” Angara said.
He also bared plans to activate the Teacher Education Council, which had been approved in Congress two years ago.
“This is a body created under the law that Congress passed two years ago which is meant to train our teachers,” Angara said.
He added this is to capacitate teachers on up-to-date quality methods of teaching.
The secretary also eyes to put up a task force to oversee the Programme for International Assessment (PISA) exams to modify local conditions and for students to perform better.
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 revealed that Filipino learners still lagged and produced low-level proficiency in Mathematics, reading, and Science.
The country also ranked sixth lowest among 81 participating countries.
The results show that 16% of the learners attained at least Level 2 proficiency in Mathematics, 24% of the learners attained the minimum proficiency in reading and 23% in Science.
Angara said the department will continue inserting a 30-minute reading period in between classes to strengthen learners’ reading and comprehensive skills.
Catch-up Fridays on the other hand will focus on Science projects as PISA 2025 exams are seen to deal with Science.
The department will administer PISA-type quizzes and examinations to the students periodically.
“Hopefully we also have data to a more granular, meaning at the student level where we can really monitor who is adopting well to the new learning programs,” the secretary said.
