Teachers' group commends DepEd’s initiative on giving less homework to students, urged DepEd to reduce workload of teachers too

On Wednesday, the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) welcomed the reminder of the Department of Education (DepEd) to teachers to give less homework to their students to avoid burnout; however, the group urged the department to reduce the workload of teachers too. 

Photo credit: cnnphilippiness.com

TDC complimented the step of DepEd to reduce the school workload of the students after receiving feedback that many of them are “overwhelmed” with subject requirements they must accomplish after just one week of classes, especially for the printed modular learning.

Ikinalulugod namin ang pahayag na ito ng DepEd at umaasa kami na ipagpapatuloy pa rin nila ang pagtatasa sa mga polisiya,

said TDC National Chairperson Benjo Basas.

[We welcome this statement from DepEd and we hope that they will continue to review the policies.]

Basas noted that there are also many policies that DepEd has to review and reconsider as it implements alternative learning delivery modalities since face-to-face classes is prohibited this school year.

Sapagkat nasa gitna tayo ng krisis dulot ng pandemya, dapat lamang na magkaroon tayo ng konsiderasyon sa lahat lalo na sa mga bata at kanilang pamilya na maaaring limitado ang kapasidad pang-ekonomiya at pang-akademiko,

Basas said.

[Since we are in the midst of a crisis caused by the pandemic, we should have consideration for everyone especially the children and their families, who may have limited economic and academic capacities.]

TDC also appreciated the initiatives of DepEd in the past few weeks, specially the changes in student assessment and grading criteria. DepEd will implement a “no periodical exam” policy for the school year 2020 to 2021 in public schools to prevent “distance cheating”.

The group also reminded that DepEd should take into consideration the situation of teachers, since, they were required to render services since June, teachers have been fulfilling other tasks, including Brigada Eskwela activities, enrollment, weekly accomplishment reports, webinars and online meetings, and module preparation and distribution.

Basas also noted that teachers have been blamed for the erroneous modules pointed out by netizens when classes started last Oct. 5. This, he said, is unfair to teachers because they only follow the directives coming from the DepEd Central Office when it comes to the modules and other academic requirements.

Meanwhile, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said the DepEd was feigning innocence regarding who was responsible for placing the burden on students, stressing that all module templates were produced at the central office.

We have earlier called for clear guidelines on the conduct of distance learning to address the too heavy workload and study load for teachers and students as observed in the simulations but the agency did not lift a finger to remedy this,

said Raymond Basilio, ACT secretary general.

He pointed out that the DepEd seemed to be passing the blame on the teachers, school heads and its local offices, who were already working “beyond their capacities and resources.”