Manila: The Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday announced plans to significantly reduce the paperwork load for teachers by 57 percent through a new department order. This reduction applies to the total of 174 required school forms, aligning with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s directives to enhance education quality and prioritize teacher welfare by lessening their administrative burdens.
According to Philippines News Agency, Education Secretary Sonny Angara emphasized that this initiative aims to address the long-standing issue of excessive paperwork faced by teachers. "Teachers have long raised concerns about excessive paperwork, and this policy directly responds to that. Reducing their bureaucratic workload will not only improve their well-being but also enhance the quality of instruction they provide to our learners," Angara stated.
The policy mandates that all public school teachers will be required to complete only five regular forms. Additionally, there are options to complete 31 forms for ancillary tasks and 39 forms for teaching-related assignments. Under Angara's leadership, the DepEd is also advocating for a Data Management framework to establish more efficient reporting systems and eliminate redundant and outdated documentation requirements in public schools.
The department will also initiate awareness campaigns to inform teachers about the ongoing reforms aimed at improving their welfare. These efforts follow a study by the DepEd's Technical Working Group on school forms, which revealed that teachers often spend excessive hours on administrative tasks, detracting from time that could be spent on lesson planning, student engagement, and instructional activities.
The IDInsight study, conducted in partnership with the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), surveyed over 2,000 schools and 15,000 teachers nationwide. It found that at least 42 percent of teachers work more than 50 hours a week, with an average of 17.8 hours devoted to ancillary tasks and 8.1 hours to program-related assignments.
