Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Friday vowed to conduct a continuous review of classroom observations to ensure the welfare of teachers.
In an interview, Angara said the policy has already been relaxed to prevent unnecessary pressure on the part of educators.
“It’s an ongoing review dahil binago na nga namin ‘yung (because we have already tweaked the) policy, so we just see if it needs further review,” he said.
Included in the adjustments is the removal of surprise classroom observations for proper monitoring and assessment, which are part of the previous complaints of public school teachers for career promotion purposes.
“Minsan masyadong pressured ‘yung environment, kaya nga hindi na namin ginawang sole basis iyon. Dati kasi (Sometimes, the environment is pressured, that’s why we no longer make it as the sole basis. Before, it was the) sole basis,” Angara said.
“Tapos surprise visits. So, ginawa namin scheduled na – mag-uusap ‘yung magmo-monitor at saka yung teacher kung kailan siya okay (And then, those were surprise visits. So, we scheduled it – the monitoring staff and the teacher will be discussing their availability),” he added.
Angara said the agency is eyeing a more relaxed mechanism or a less pressured approach to provide support to public school educators.
“Ang reklamo ng ibang teacher, what if bad day for the teacher, e alam naman ng community na magaling na (The common complaint of some teachers is, what if the teacher is just simply having a bad day, yet the community knows that they have a competent) teacher. So, we’ll take that into account in the review,” he said.
He assured that DepEd will apply necessary tweaks, if any, to boost teachers’ professional development without compromising their welfare.
Angara, meanwhile, extended sincere sympathies to the bereaved family, friends, and colleagues of teacher Agnes Buenaflor of Pedro E. Diaz High School in Muntinlupa City.
The DepEd earlier vowed to provide all assistance to affected teachers and learners, including psychosocial support. (PNA)