MANILA — Senior high school teachers given provisional appointments can continue to teach until the end of the school year, an official from the Department of Education said Monday.

"It is hereby advised and clarified that all existing provisional appointments issued in [School Year] 2020-2021 to Senior High School teachers shall be effective until July 10, 2021 or the end of SY 2020-2021," Education Undersecretary Jesus Mateo said in a May 27 memorandum.

ABS-CBN News obtained the memorandum from Mateo on Monday after the Teachers' Dignity Coalition (TDC) said in a statement that some 1,000 provisional SHS teachers "are on brink of losing their jobs."

The group said the provisional teachers, who were hired in 2016, were told that their last day would be on May 31.

Under the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, provisional teachers are given 5 years to pass the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET), a requirement for them to become permanent teachers.

The TDC said losing the teachers would "further obstruct the services of many schools offering senior high school program."

Mateo, in a text message, clarified that the provisional teachers "will not stop teaching."

The DepEd official said the Professional Regulation Commission has allowed the affected SHS teachers to retake the LET, scheduled on September 26.

The department is also waiting for the Civil Service Commission's response to its request to renew the affected teachers, Mateo said.

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The TDC appealed to the government "to finally decide on rehiring of teachers after the result of the licensure exams (in) September so as not to jeopardize the education service for children and not to deny the sources of livelihood of the teachers."

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