DepEd to take over Safety Seal issuance for schools

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) will be the issuing authority for the Safety Seal for all schools that will follow its guidelines on holding face-to-face (F2F) classes.

All schools that have passed the safety assessment tool are eligible for the Safety Seal, often a requirement of local government units, according to DepEd Assistant Secretary Malcolm Garma.

At a recent press briefing, Garma said the agency is also finalizing the guidelines under its joint memorandum circular with the Department of Health (DOH) that were adjusted in response to learning from the F2F pilot study.

“Accordingly, our guidelines on limited F2F are being finalized because we have already adjusted some policies and regulations to be more relevant to the current situation and at the same time, it’s not static, but dynamic to whatever situation that might arise insofar as COVID-19 is concerned,” he added.

The DepEd official noted that a draft has been submitted and is awaiting the signature of the DepEd and DOH secretaries.

In a related development, the DepEd is expecting more schools to be able to participate in limited F2F classes in the country as it is set to issue the more lenient safety assessment tool by next week.

The second version of the school safety assessment tool that has streamlined requirements will be released within the week or next week at the latest, according to Garma.

“We have made it easier. Because of this, we are expecting that more schools will be able to qualify to become nominated schools,” Garma said.

He added that the second version is more practical for schools to follow in terms of requirements.

Latest data showed that a total of 13,396 nominated schools nationwide have passed the assessment. This encompasses over 2.6 million learners under schools that are deemed eligible and ready to take part in F2F classes.

The DepEd said that 9,994 public schools and 212 private schools are already participating as they are in Alert Level 1 areas.

More teacher posts

Meanwhile, the DepEd is seeking the creation of more teacher positions to address the “very limited” promotion opportunities for public school educators in the country.

DepEd Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said they are awaiting the signing of an executive order that will create four more teacher positions with corresponding higher salary grades.

The agency is proposing the creation of positions Teacher 4, 5, 6 and 7, from the current entry positions of Teacher 1 up to 3.

“We have teachers that have retired only as Teacher 2 and 3 at the most. But now, the executive order will add four more steps of Teacher 4, 5, 6 and 7 and corresponding higher salary grades of 14, 15, 16 and 17,” Malaluan said during the same briefing.

He noted that at present, after the Teacher 3 position, teachers will need to jump to Master Teacher 1 or have to compete with the limited head teacher and principal positions.

He said these positions are very limited as this is only equivalent to the number of public schools, or about 47,000.

“Our items for head teachers and principals will only be as many as there are schools. On the other hand, to be a master teacher, academic requirements are big. Second, items are limited for master teacher,” he explained.

The proposal was presented to Cabinet members by Education Secretary Leonor Briones and was subsequently approved, according to Malaluan.

The agency was able to finalize the proposed EO in coordination with the Department of Budget and Management, Civil Service Commission and the Professional Regulation Commission.