Teachers empowered to say no to community events, services during school hours
By MARIA LOTA B. ENGRESO
Pinamanculan Elementary School
West Butuan District II
In keeping with the Department of Education’s (DepEd) vision of producing Filipinos who passionately love their country, and whose values and competencies enable them to realize their full potential and contribute meaningfully to building the nation, teachers must showcase enthusiasm in delivering the basic education programs and services to learners.
The DepEd recognizes the crucial and significant role of teachers in the holistic development of learners.
Teachers through DepEd Order No. 008, s. 2023, empowers them to make it clear that they have the option to say no to invitations to community events and /or requests to render community service that are non-teaching or non-academic in nature regardless if these will be conducted outside school hours.
Teachers are not allowed to engage in community service or extracurricular activities during school hours as these will impede the performance of their teaching work and responsibilities.
As per Republic Act (RA) No. 4670 or the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers regulates the work hours of teachers not only to give them time for the preparation and correction of exercises and other work incidental to their normal teaching duties, but also to protect and ensure their physical and mental health well-being while they serve in the front lines of DepEd in delivering its curriculum, services, and skills mastery to the holistic classroom managers and leaders. Teachers are primarily responsible for maintaining a learning-focused environment, and at the same time ensuring the welfare of the learners. ###
