DepEd to hire 33K teachers to address shortage

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) will hire more than 33,000 teachers this school year to address teacher shortage in public schools.

DepEd Assistant Secretary Jesus Mateo said they hope to fill 33,194 teaching positions before the end of the month.

“Based on our experience last year, we filled up almost 90 percent of the 61,000 plus teaching positions by end of May,” Mateo said, adding the local government unit-hired teachers would be prioritized.

DepEd stressed only those who are qualified and board passers would be hired.

The opening of classes for public pre-school, elementary and secondary schools is on June 2.

DepEd-National Capital Region director Luz Almeda said there is no teacher shortage in the public schools in Metro Manila.

She said Metro Manila has over 100 excess teachers, who are assigned as coordinators or mobile teachers.

The mobile teachers, she said, are those who mentor the out-of-school youth under the DepEd’s Abot Alam program.

DepEd said the government has hired a total of 102,623 teachers since 2010.

“Combined with the 43,204 kinder volunteers and the LGU-hired teachers, this effectively addresses the 145,827 backlog in 2010,” Mateo said.

A group of education reform advocates earlier called on the DepEd to close down non-performing teacher education institutions in the country.

A study by the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) showed that less than 10 percent of students in 1,100 TEIs passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) for both elementary and secondary education from October 2009 to September 2013.

Most of these non-performing TEIs are private schools and are mostly found in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, PBEd said.

Meanwhile, the DepEd has opened its hotlines to entertain concerns and complaints from students and parents with regard to the school opening.

The DepEd hotlines are (02) 636-1663, (02) 633-1942 and (63) 919-456-0027. –Helen Flores (The Philippine Star)