DepEd OKs flexible class hours to ease teacher workload
The order resulted from teachers’ plea to amend the MATATAG curriculum, saying shorter class time have forced them to handle more subjects. Photo by DepEd.
The Department of Education (DepEd) has announced that schools can now return to one-hour classes under the new MATATAG curriculum.
Released on September 18, DepEd Order 12, s. 2024 allows schools to choose class hours. These could range between 45 to 60 minutes based on teacher availability and student population size. The flexibility is designed to accommodate the different contexts of schools across the country.
The change also aims to ease the workload for teachers who have faced challenges with the previous 45-minute class duration. It will be effective from the second quarter of the school year.
Teachers have been urging Education Secretary Sonny Angara to amend the MATATAG curriculum, saying shorter class times forced teachers to handle more subjects.
Teachers’ Dignity Coalition Chair Benjo Basas called it “impractical” and “illegal” to require teachers to manage eight sections in six hours.
The new order sets a minimum of 225 minutes per week for core subjects like English, Math, Science and Values Education. Schools can adjust class hours as long as they meet the daily minimum of five hours and 30 minutes of learning time.
Basas welcomed the new order, saying it shows DepEd’s openness to consulting with teachers and principals. He added that this will lead to fewer sections and shorter class hours for teachers.
“Hindi naman tayo babalik sa one hour per subject. Binigyan ng flexibility ang ating mga eskwelahan depende sa kani-kanilang mga sitwasyon. Puwedeng 45 minutes pa rin; puwedeng 50, 55 o 60. Depende ‘yan sa situation ng ating mga paaralan [We won’t be going back to one hour per subject. Schools have been given flexibility depending on their individual situations. It can still be 45 minutes, or 50, or 55 or 60. It depends on the situation of each school],” he clarified.
He said the new DepEd order is a result of consultations between the department and educators. Basas noted that teachers had long requested for this and that DepEd has been open to dialogue.
The MATATAG curriculum, launched in 2023, tackles pandemic learning losses by simplifying content for kindergarten to Grade 10 and focusing on literacy and numeracy.
