- DepEd-6 welcomes the creation of 16,000 new teaching posts nationwide, citing major benefits for quality basic education in Western Visayas
- Region’s 40,742 government school teachers currently face workload challenges due to staffing gaps and subject mismatches
- DepEd-6 awaits official guidelines on post allocation, expecting improved support for schools in Panay and Guimaras Islands
Department of Education (DepEd) 6 (Western Visayas) greeted the establishment of 16,000 new teaching posts across the country as it would hugely improve the provision of quality basic education in the region.
"It would make a big difference. We are satisfied with that because we understand it could benefit our schools and will guarantee the mandate of DepEd to provide quality basic education will be sustained", DepEd-6 information officer Hernani Escullar Jr. told in an interview.
Esculiar added that all guidance counselor plantilla positions in the area have been filled except for those under backlogs due to strict qualification requirements to which they must conform. Hiring of teachers is handled at the schools division level. Western Visayas covering Panay and Guimaras Islands has 40,742 government school teachers.
"Any increment would really be a huge assistance for our schools", Escullar said. He said the creation of new teaching posts would spread the workload across available staff, some of whom have to service more than one session or cover subjects that are not in their field of expertise owing to teacher and classroom shortages.
"Sa DepEd, meron kaming rule na pwede natin i-denied ang enrolment; we must accept students. What we can do is re-configure our schedules. It will be left to the school heads because they know what the proper intervention is", he said.
What is crucial, he stated, is that they achieved the target competencies for the basic education curriculum. Escullar disclosed they are still awaiting guidelines for the allocation in Western Visayas.
