Language, communication, and literature teacher, adviser, journalism and learning resource coordinator, librarian. These are the different roles of Marissa Acuña in San Juan City TVL High School.

Aside from teaching, her days are swamped with paperwork, sometimes even at home.

"Bukod sa ihahanda ko iyong lahat ng mga forms, nagsisilbi rin kaming mga guidance counselor nila. In case na kapag may problem na nangyari, iyong class adviser muna ang unang tinatawag," Acuña told ABS-CBN News.

How does she fit every task into her work day?

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Acuña candidly and in between laughs, replied: "Hindi ko alam."

Later on, she said: "Siguro time management pero minsan eh talagang ginugugol ko rin iyong oras ko na supposed to be 'me time' naman... para sa mga gawaing dapat tapusin lalo na kapag I have to beat the deadline."

The school's principal is feeling the relief that will be brought by the removal of administrative duties from teachers.

"Makapagfo-focus iyong mga guro sa pagbibigay ng quality education kasi wala na silang iisipin kung hindi magturo lang talaga at maghanda ng learning materials at strategies," Demie Atienza said.

"Iyong delivery ng hinihingi nating quality education, magiging maganda ang resulta nito pagdating ng panahon. At siguro hindi lang iyon, magbubunga rin iyong sa mga international assessment natin ng magandang performance... Nakaka-survive ang mga schools taon taon pero mas magiging maayos ang sistema natin," he added.

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VP SARA'S PROMISE

For a long time, teachers have been used to being assigned with administrative tasks.

They are hopeful that Vice President and Education Sec. Sara Duterte will fulfill her promise of relieving them of these tasks so that they can focus on teaching.

"Department Order on the Immediate Removal of Administrative Tasks for Teachers" (DepEd Order No. 002 series of 2024) was released on Jan. 26.

"To ensure its effective implementation, along with the filling up of 5,000 administrative personnel for 2023 and another 5,000 administrative personnel for 2024, we will also be providing additional MOOE to enable our schools to hire the necessary administrative support staff. Let us bring our teachers back to the classrooms," Duterte said in her Basic Education Report (BER) 2024 delivered on Jan. 25.

DepEd Usec. Michael Poa, the agency's chief of staff and spokesperson, explained the department order (DO) is expected to specify tasks of teachers, which intends to relieve them from administrative tasks.

"There will be a transition in a way, but ang DO will really be on the removal of all admin task... Ang gusto talaga ni vice president, tumutok na sa pag-aaral ang ating mga kaguruan, ang ating teachers... That's why we're issuing a strand memo para naman po may gabay ang ating field personnel kung kanino ibibigay ang admin task," he told reporters after the BER.

But why is the process of removing administrative duties from teachers taking a while?

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"Pag naglabas lang tayo ng DO without really making sure that on the ground it will be implemented effectively, mawawalang saysay lang po iyong DO. That's why ang ginawa po talaga natin, sinuri natin ano ano iyong mga task na ginagawa ng teachers kasi meron din mga teaching related, ancillary, admin task," Poa explained.

"Maglalabas din tayo ng isang internal memo within DepEd to guide the regional offices, division offices kung saan, ano na iyong mga strategies para pag tinanggal natin iyong admin tasks sa teachers, meron kasing kailangang sumalo noon," he added.

Poa said a strategy could be clustering, wherein two to three administrative officers will handle about three schools - which, he said, is already being done by DepEd.

"May item po talaga iyan but, of course, aminado tayo na hindi pa rin iyan kasya - iyong mga na-hire natin - para sa 47,000 public schools... We just have to really plan the clustering better so that... magiging effective siya. Will it be perfect kaagad from day 1? Of course, alam natin na marami pa rin tayong adjustments na kailangang gawin but this is a start," he said.

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DEPED ORDER

Under DepEd Order No. 002 series of 2024, administrative tasks will be removed from the workload of teachers, "without prejudice to the teacher ancillary tasks as defined by other DepEd issuances."

"Accordingly, School Heads and non-teaching personnel shall have the sole responsibility to perform the administrative tasks enumerated hereunder. These tasks shall include, but are not limited to the following: a. PersonnelAdministration b. Property/Physical Facilities Custodianship c. General Administrative Support d. Financial Management e. Records Management f. Program Management i. Feeding ii. School DRRM iii. Other related programs," the order read.

To help in the non-teaching personnel requirements of the schools, measures may be employed, including: "SDOs (Schools Division Offices) may cluster deployed non-teaching personnel in accordance with the deployment Patameters issued by the Bureau of Human Resource and Organizational Development (BHROD); and SDOs and schools may hire personnel under Contract of Service (COS) or Job Order (JO) which may be charged either against Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) or other alternative sources of funding," according to the order.

The DepEd Central Office, Regional Offices, Schools Division Offices, and school heads are tasked to monitor and ensure compliance to the department order.

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"Concerns, complaints, and/or violations arising from the implementation of this policy shall be addressed through the grievance machinery provided under DO No. 35, s. 2OO4 (Reuision of the Gieuance Machineries of the Department ofEducation)or perlinent rules on administrative cases in the civil service," the order read.

STAKEHOLDERS

Benjo Basas, chairperson of the Teachers' Dignity Coalition (TDC), is happy about the plan, as teachers have long been complaining about their volume of work that is not connected to teaching.

He also hopes for the hiring of guidance counselors, property custodian, nurse, security officer, and utility workers.

"Matagal nang inirereklamo ng mga guro ang sandamakmak na mga trabahong wala namang kaugnayan sa pagtuturo at umaagaw lamang sa aming oras. Kung minsan nga sa dami ng ginagawang trabaho ni titser, isang bagay ang hindi niya na nagagawa, ang magturo. Kaya naman po ikinatutuwa namin ang pahayag na ito at umaasa kaming magiging paborable sa mga guro ang lalamanin ng nasabing polisiya at maipatutupad nang ganap sa lahat ng paaralan sa buong bansa," Basas said in a statement.

"Ukol naman sa mga karagdagang personnel, dapat sana ay mag-hire ng batay sa pangangailangan ng field hindi lamang mga admistrative staff kundi pati na rin ng mga guidance counselors, property custodian, nurse, security officer, utility workers at iba pang mga tauhan upang lubos na mapalaya sa kung anu-anong gawain ang mga guro," he added.

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Meanwhile, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said each school must have at least two administrative staff to truly lessen the workload of teachers.

"With almost 50,000 schools suffering from being understaffed, we need at least 2 administrative staff per school to truly unload the teachers from being overworked. The allocation of 10,000 administrative staff positions nationwide appears exaggerated in terms of its potential to relieve teachers of administrative duties," the group said in a statement.

For Justine Raagas, executive director of the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), this is a step in solving the learning crisis.

Raagas said it will also help if para-teachers or volunteers will be hired "so that teachers don't feel that they have to do everything by themselves."

"The removal of non-teaching duties from our teachers is a step in the right direction in solving our learning crisis. It is high time that we let our teachers focus on what they are supposed to do and that is to facilitate learning," Raagas said in a PBEd press release.

"Engaging para-teachers or teaching volunteers is the best way to harness support from all stakeholders so that teachers don't feel that they have to do everything by themselves. We have to remember that this is the reason why teachers are not able to bring students up to the level they are supposed to be because of the lack of time to do it, which led to the issue of mass promotion," she added.