DepEd plans to hire 10,000 teachers, 5,000 non-teaching staff in 2020

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) is allotting a total of P2.55 billion out of its proposed P559.89-billion 2020 budget for the hiring of 10,000 teachers and the creation of 5,000 new non-teaching positions.

In a statement Monday, September 2, the department said P1.27 billion of the proposed budget would be used to hire new teachers, while P1.28 billion would be used to recruit non-teaching personnel.

According to DepEd, the new hires will be assigned to different schools and field offices.

“The move is part of DepEd’s commitment to further improve teacher-to-student ratio, enhance learning, and ease the workload of its personnel given increasing enrollment levels in public schools nationwide,” the DepEd said in the statement.

During opening of classes in June, the department said there were over 22.8 million learners enrolled in public schools nationwide. DepEd said that in 2016, it had lowered the teacher-to-student ratio to 1:35 in elementary schools, and 1:43 in high schools.

Another highlight of the proposed budget is the allocation for DepEd’s Computerization Program (DCP), which has doubled to P8.99 billion from the approved P4.38-billion allocation in 2019. The proposed 2020 figure will fund 4,300 e-classroom packages and 42,010 multimedia packages for schools.

DepEd said the DCP aims to “enhance the teaching-learning process and…enable both teachers and learners to meet the challenges of the 21st century.”

“We recognize the need to provide our teaching and non-teaching personnel with work conditions that will enable them to deliver quality basic education for all. Steadily, we’re ensuring that they are unburdened of ancillary tasks and equipped with necessary tools and materials to develop lifelong Filipino learners,” Education Secretary Leonor Briones said. – Jee Y. Geronimo, with a report from Janelle Paris/Rappler.com