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Teachers Call for Junking of Burdensome Evaluation System

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) lamented the ‘burdensome, unnecessary, and unjust’ evaluation system for public school teachers called the RPMS-PPST or the Results-based Performance Management System & the Philippine Professional Standard for Teachers, which compel teachers to render unpaid work beyond April 5, the last day of School Year 2018–2019.

Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines
Photo Courtesy: Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines

Teachers Call for Junking of Burdensome Evaluation System

“Instead of enjoying the summer vacation, teachers are still reporting to their schools to finish the unnecessarily heavy paperwork demanded by the RPMS-PPST and to complete their IPCRF (Individual Performance Commitment and Review Form). We of course will not be compensated for such by DepEd,” said ACT National Chairperson Joselyn Martinez.

Martinez explained that summer vacation is teachers’ only time for rest and reinvigoration as public school teachers are not entitled to sick and vacation leave credits for the whole school year, unlike other public and private employees who enjoy these benefits throughout the year.

“These requirements are ridiculous! We are essentially being asked to prove that we worked the entire year through various means of verification identified by the PPST, which supposedly ensure that we comply with a set of standards recommended by the profiteering institution Asian Development Bank,” lamented Martinez.

ACT questioned DepEd’s use of the RPMS-PPST framework and tools like the IPCRF to measure teachers’ performance and productivity, which the group says are geared towards ensuring maximum profit at a minimum cost. The teachers’ federation argued that such is not appropriate for government institutions and for service-oriented professions such as teaching.

DepEd, for its part, insists that the stringent evaluation system is aimed at improving the quality of teaching and, therefore, of education in the country. ACT lambasted DepEd’s reasoning, saying that this fails to account the dismal and neglected state of public education in the Philippines, and puts the entire burden of providing quality education on teachers.

“DepEd is trying to veer the blame away from the major reason behind the declining quality of education in the country, which is no less than the problematic K to 12 program,” argued Martinez.

Martinez further said that the RPMS-PPST misses the multiple other hats teachers are forced to wear due to staff shortage, which include that of medical workers, social workers, guidance counselor, clerk, janitor, security guard, and many others.

“DepEd has effectively reduced our profession to reams of useless forms and paperworks, which disregard the indispensable work we do as teachers. We care for these children like they are our own, and have dedicated our lives to ensuring that the youth gets a proper education despite very little support from the government. We deserve better than to be treated like this,” declared Martinez.

ACT calls for the immediate scrapping of the RPMS-PPST, which teachers have tagged as ‘Regulasyong Pahirap kay Ma’am at Sir’ (RPMS) and ‘PPeSTe’ (PPST). They further urge DepEd to jointly work with teachers in crafting mechanisms for evaluation that give justice to the teaching profession.

Source: Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines

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Mark Anthony Llego

Mark Anthony Llego, from the Philippines, has significantly influenced the teaching profession by enabling thousands of teachers nationwide to access essential information and exchange ideas. His contributions have enhanced their instructional and supervisory abilities. Moreover, his articles on teaching have reached international audiences and have been featured on highly regarded educational websites in the United States.

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