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'Don't take it too literally': Group tells teachers, heads on DepEd order to remove classroom decor

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Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt=" Information and Communication Technology (ICT) teacher Gladys Ramirez is looking forward to having solar power in all the classrooms in the school in Barangay Buluang, Busuanga, in Palawan on November 29, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/08/19/20221129-acciona-el-nido-solar-power-jc-5216.jpg"/><figcaption>Information and Communication Technology (ICT) teacher Gladys Ramirez is looking forward to having solar power in all the classrooms in the school in Barangay Buluang, Busuanga, in Palawan on November 29, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA — The Teacher&#x27;s Dignity Coalition on Saturday urged school heads and teachers to &quot;not take too literally&quot; the Department of Education&#x27;s (DepEd) order that prohibits classroom decorations, saying this only pertains to unnecessary posters. Benjo Basas, the coalition&#x27;s national chairperson, said DepEd Order No. 21 did not specify anything aside from the removal of insignificant and oversized posters and tarpaulins in classrooms, some of which might involve ads. &quot;Sabi doon, unnecessary pero hindi nangangahulugan na kapag i-clear natin &#x27;yung classroom natin doon sa unnecessary na mga documents or mga posters. Hindi naman noon nangangahulugan na ike-clear natin sa lahat,&quot; Basas told Teleradyo Serbisyo in an interview. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/14/23/deped-removes-contests-for-brigada-eskwela">DepEd removes contests for Brigada Eskwela</a></li></ul>&quot;We have to understand na napakalaki ng tulong ng mga posters, educational materials na ito. Alam niyo, lumalabas sa pag-aaral... malaking tulong sa mga understanding ng mga bata dahil [visually] nakakakuha tayo ng learning,&quot; he added. Basas said teachers should disagree once important visual aids would be asked to be removed, most especially those that they believe could greatly benefit students&#x27; learning.This includes, he said, educational posters on the solar system, the table of elements, the Panatang Makabayan, and bionotes on the country&#x27;s heroes. &quot;We call on our colleagues, our school heads, teachers — don&#x27;t take it too literally. Ang sinasabi naman ng ating kalihim at vice president ay unnecessary. Pag sinabing unnecessary, yung mga hindi natin kailangan,&quot; he said. &quot;Hindi mo ba kayang idepensa, kung ikaw ay public school teacher, hindi mo ba kaya idepensa na idini-display mo &#x27;yung... chemical table of elements? Ibig sabihin, hindi natin puwede tanggalin itong lahat,&quot; he added. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/08/19/23/sara-duterte-orders-classrooms-to-be-stripped-of-decors">Sara Duterte orders classrooms to be stripped of decors</a></li></ul>Schools earlier this week took down school decorations to follow DepEd Order 21, which mandates that school grounds, classrooms, and all its walls and other school facilities should be clean and free from unnecessary artwork, decorations, tarpaulin, and posters at all times. This means classroom walls should be bare. Oversized signages with commercial advertisements, sponsorships, endorsements, announcements of any kind are also prohibited.&quot;So alisin &#x27;yung mga decoration, nakadikit, kung ano ang mga nakasulat. Lahat &#x27;yun dapat malinis ang ating classrooms so that ang attention ng ating mga estudyante ay nandoon sa mga teacher sa harap o doon sa libro o sa ginagawa nila,&quot; Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte said. <div> LAWMAKER: DEPED ORDER UNNECESSARY</div>ACT Teachers Party-list Representative France Castro, for her part, said visual aids are not a distraction to students, contrary to the Vice-President&#x27;s belief. Castro also described the order as &quot;unnecessary&quot; as visual aids help elementary students. Instead of these issues, she said the DepEd should focus on the pressing matters that hound the education sector instead.&quot;Hindi naman ito ang nakakapagpawala ng focus ng mga bata kundi &#x27;yung number of class size. I think dapat bawasan &#x27;yung class size, &#x27;yung trabaho ng teachers bawasan,&quot; said the lawmaker. It seemed that many teachers &quot;disagreed&quot; with the directive, Castro said, noting that DepEd did not also release any study supporting their order. &quot;Siguro naisip lang ng secretary na dapat gawing ganoon, bare. During the Brigada Eskwela, teachers, students, and parents prepared already the classrooms. Itong mga parents nga naglagay pa diyan ng visual aids,&quot; she said. &quot;There was no consultations with the teachers on what to do with these visual aids kung kailangan o hindi,&quot; she added. <figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2768804" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Teachers should disagree once important charts or posters would be asked to be removed, most especially those that they believe could greatly benefit students' learning, a group said.

'Don't take it too literally': Group tells teachers, heads on DepEd order to remove classroom decor

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'Don't take it too literally': Group tells teachers, heads on DepEd order to remove classroom decor

Job Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 19, 2023 03:14 PM PHT

Read More:

DepEd Order 21

Department of Education

classroom decorations

posters decorations prohibited

Teacher's Dignity Coalition

Sara Duterte

Benjo Basas

ACT Teachers

France Castro

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