DepEd 11 ready to support vaccination
AN OFFICIAL from the Department of Education-Davao Region (DepEd-Davao) is ready to support the government’s vaccination program if the agency will be tapped but the official also underscored that administering the vaccine should be left to medical professionals.
DepEd-Davao Spokesperson Jenielito Atillo said in a radio interview that Education Secretary Leonor Briones or the department itself has not issued any statement following the recent reports that the Department of Health (DOH) will be tapping teachers as part of the vaccination teams that will undergo training.
DOH spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire, however, clarified that the role of teachers in vaccination teams will be for health education only and the vaccination itself will be done by health professionals.
Atillo also reiterated Vergeire’s statement, adding that the department is willing to support the program.
The DepEd official admitted they were surprised to receive reports, and that he immediately sought verification on this, but the head office has not issued any statement on this plan.
“Wala mi problema ana [teachers in the information campaign]. Dali man lang na para sa magtutudlo. Pero katung kami mugunit sa heringilya and mutusok sa bukton didto di na pwede. Unang una, ang magtutudlo, tudlo lang iyang trabaho (We do not have a problem tapping our teachers in the information campaign. I’m sure it would be an easy task for them. But, we cannot have our teachers doing the vaccination itself because, in the first place, their task is to teach),” Atillo said.
He, however, said they are open to the idea of tapping the medical practitioners who are working for DepEd, particularly those designated school nurses and doctors in respective schools.
“As of now, wa pa’y klaro kung involve ba mi and extent sa amo’ng involvement. Pero musuport mi. (There is no clear details on how and to what extent we will be involved in this program, but we will support it.) [Although] we have to wait for the official instruction coming from the Secretary going to the field on the ground,” Atillo said.
In a Facebook message to SunStar Davao, Alliance of Concerned Teachers-Davao City (ACT-Davao City) Division president Reynaldo Pardillo said they were not surprised upon hearing the initial reports.
“We teachers were the last resort of every task that our government would like to initiate. In the election census, module producers, and even modules writer and hauler. Even in the deworming and feeding program for the malnourished learners. It is not that we are 3-in-1 teachers but many in one as long as we can serve the most of our learners [sic],” Pardillo said. (Read full story on sunstar.com.ph/davao )