DepEd’s initiative on career progression

Donna G. Tapnio

ONE of the motivations for educators in choosing to teach has something to do with economic considerations, which has led the Department of Education to revisit teachers’ career progressions.

According to the DepEd, teachers have been applying for promotion, and 81 percent of them have succeeded. This means that they have the willingness to progress from their current ranks.

The Department has actually lodged a policy concerning the career progression of teachers, which is almost complete, the agency said. Based on the competency standards, one can now progress to the next higher position

The policy will soon be jointly issued by the Department of Budget and Management and DepEd.

Under the proposed policy, the Department will be creating teaching positions namely Teacher III, IV, V, VI, VII, and Master Teacher V, and will institutionalize merit-based promotion anchored on Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST).

Meanwhile, in line with the celebration of the National Teachers’ Month, the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Center for Educational Innovation and Technology (SEAMEO INNOTECH) presented a research study on teachers’ motivation, which supported the DepEd’s initiative in the career progression of teachers.

The DepEd said that the study shows the voice of a small minority, or teachers who go into formal teaching for the very same reason our grandparents, mothers, and other relatives go into teaching.

This comprehensive study on teacher motivation may become supplemental for other policies focusing on teacher welfare.

The author is Teacher

--oOo-

III at Dolores Elementary School, Bacolor North District,

Division of Pampanga