Recto to DepEd: Speed up teacher recruitment

MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto urged the Department of Education (DepEd) on Saturday, July 18, to speed up the process of hiring teachers. 

In a press statement, Recto said the DepEd received P9.35 billion from the 2015 national budget to fund 39,066 new teaching positions. The General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2015 mandates that the appointments must be made before the start of the school year.

However, the senator said that none of the 39,066 teachers were hired in time for the opening of classes in June.

“In fact, as of last May, DepEd was still processing the appointment papers of about 1,800 teachers who will occupy positions in 2014,” said Recto.

He added that while 29,394 new teaching positions were funded in 2014, the process was hounded by delays.

“It seems the same thing is repeating this year,” said Recto, adding that the DepEd is “having a problem on how to absorb huge allocations.”

“Budgetary expansion should have led to capacity improvement,” he said. “Kulang sa tao para mag-handle ng dami ng proyekto (There are not enough number of people to handle the amount of projects).”

Apart from streamlining the hiring process for teachers, Recto also suggested that the DepEd advance its screening process as well.

“For example, [DepEd may] identify a pool of recruits who have passed the evaluation, so when the funding comes, DepEd will only have to pick from the available talent pool.”

He added that the benefits of the prompt  fundingof new teaching positions is negated when these are not filled fast.  

“And the students are those who suffer from red tape when they show up in schools only to find out that their teacher has yet to be hired.”

The senator also suggested that the DepEd posts the names and school divisions of teachers on the agency’s official website once the teachers have been hired.

“This provision was included precisely to itemize the utilization of a lump sum account, which the budget for the hiring of new teachers is,” he said.

Key role of DBM

According to Recto, the P9.35 billion earmarked for the hiring of the initial year salary of the teacher is one of the biggest items in the DepEd’s P340-billion budget for 2015.

With this, Recto said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) plays a key role in the hiring of teachers.

“Formal recruitment can only proceed if the ‘Notice of Organization, Staffing and Compensation Action’ has been issued by the DBM,” he said.

The Senate leader said the GAA also requires that the appointment be made before the start of school year 2015-2106.

DepEd Order #7, Series of 2015, which sets the Hiring Guidelines for Teacher I Applicants for School Year 2015-2016, calls for observance of the merit and fitness principle in civil service. – Rappler.com