The Department of Education said Monday teachers and school heads would now get a higher monthly special hardship allowance to compensate them for the difficulties and risks they face in carrying out their tasks.
Under a joint circular made by the DepEd and the Department of Budget and Management, the amount of the allowance was increased from 15 percent to 25 percent of the personnel’s monthly basic salary.
Requirement for the allowance have also been reduced, DepEd Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla said.
Under the new guidelines, qualified teachers only need to submit their Daily Time Record or DTR to avail of the allowance, she said.
In another development, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday said increasing teaching supplies allowance would give teachers relief on expenses related to distance learning.
Gatchalian is co-author and co-sponsor of Senate Bill Number 1092 or the ‘Teaching Supplies Allowance Act of 2020.’
Under the proposed measure, teachers will receive a teaching supplies allowance worth P10,000 starting SY 2024-2025. For SY 2021-2022 and 2022-2023, each teacher will receive a teaching supplies allowance worth P5,000. For SY 2023-2024, teachers will receive P7,500.
DepEd Undersecretary Alain Del Pascua said that the agency has started the procurement process to provide public school teachers with 30 to 35 GB of data allocation per month.
As this developed, Commission on Higher Education Chairman Prospero De Vera was urged to assess the situations of students and teachers in higher education institutions under blended distance learning before saying flexible distance learning would be the norm for the next school year.
“What is the plan of the Commission on Higher Education to support teachers and students struggling in blended distance learning? Has the CHED conducted assessments on the situation of teachers and students?
Assistant Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro said.
Before making a pronouncement that ‘flexible learning’ would be the ‘new normal’ for higher education institutions, Castro said the CHED should have an assessment about teachers and students amid the 1 year of flexible distance learning.
In an earlier interview, DepEd Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said he believes home-based learning will still be an option for learners who would prefer to continue schooling at home and report to school on a limited number of days.