A MEMBER of the progressive bloc in the House of Representatives is pressing on the Department of Education (DepEd) to hire more support personnel in public schools, citing an insufficiency in handling administrative tasks.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Party-list Rep. France L. Castro stressed the need to increase education support personnel beyond the current target of 5,000, which she said “is not enough” to meet the actual workload.
“A study done by Alliance of Concerned Teachers showed we need a hundred thousand (education support staff),” she said in Filipino.
The specialized support staff Ms. Castro was referring to consisted of librarians, registrars, and property custodians who address the variety of administrative needs per school.
Oftentimes, these administrative tasks fall on the shoulders of teachers when they should be concentrated on improving the performance of students.
Calling for a more grounded approach, the lawmaker urged the DepEd to conduct school visits to assess specific support staff requirements rather than blindly adhering to the 5,000 personnel quota. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
