Teacher group scores DepEd for leaving out shortcomings in BER

MANILA, Philippines — Highlights of “minor achievements” and omissions of missed targets underscored the Department of Education’s second Basic Education Report presented on Thursday, according to a nationwide alliance of teachers.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said in a statement on Friday that Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte “should be held accountable for the delays and failures in achieving basic education facility targets,” among other undelivered promises concerning teachers’ workload and pay.

“Unfortunately, the Secretary once again did not report its failures and shortcomings, instead focusing on relatively minor achievements in improving the education system,” ACT said.

To recall, Duterte highlighted in the first BER last year that inadequate school infrastructure was the “most pressing issue pounding basic education” and vowed to utilize DepEd’s budget for 2023 to build 6,000 new classrooms.

Duterte also bared last year that only two out of three school buildings were still in good shape, or only around 104,000 out of 328,000 do not need repairs.

On Thursday, Duterte said that the education department constructed 3,673 new classrooms in 2023 — just about half of its target.

The vice president did not mention how many new school buildings it intends to construct by the end of the year, stating only that DepEd aims to finish building at least 4,000 classrooms “by the end of the first semester of 2024.” 

Duterte’s “omission” of the department’s progress in classroom repair and the construction of new classrooms “hinders the identification of solutions and improvements in implementation,” ACT added.

“The DepEd must ensure the immediate repair of the thousands of classrooms in need and prioritize the construction of new classrooms, particularly in areas where they are most needed,” ACT said.

The group also criticized DepEd’s plan to allocate 10,000 administrative staff positions nationwide to help unburden teachers of administrative duties — a promise she already mentioned a year ago in the first BER.

Duterte on Thursday also vowed to issue a DepEd order on Friday that would relieve teachers of administrative or non-teaching