A teachers' group wants postponement of the start of classes until mid-September

A teachers' group wants postponement of the start of classes until mid-September.

 The Teachers' Dignity Coalition (TDC) has requested Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte to postpone the opening of classes for the next school year 2022-2023 to mid-September or the first week of October.

According to  Benjo Basas,, TDC National Chairman that is to give adequate rest to teachers only in line with existing policies. He said teachers are entitled to two months' leave because they do not have sick and vacation leave like other employees.

"From the beginning, teachers are entitled to two months’ leave, this is to give us enough rest, physically, emotionally, and mentally,” said Basas.

Basas added that until now, the school activities had not been completed because there are still graduation and completion ceremonies, checking of forms, and preparing documents for the performance rating.

Even if classes have been canceled in September, he said, a large part of the vacation will still be spent by the teachers on various activities because in the next few weeks until August, the teachers will be engaged in other jobs such as in-service training (INSET), Brigada Eskwela, back-to-school and enrollment activities, and remedial and enrichment classes.

It may be recalled that the Department of Education (DepEd) previously said that the school year 2022-2023 will begin on August 22. 

However, DepEd has not yet released a memorandum and school calendar for this, so it is expected that the new DepEd secretary will decide on it.