The Department of Education (DepEd) recently issued DepEd Order 05 or the Rationalization of Teachers’ Workload in Public Schools and Payment of Teaching Overload, to draw a more definitive line on what types of ancillary tasks can be given to teachers while also setting a proper pay for overtime work. 

The said DO set six hours for actual classroom teaching and two hours for ancillary work, which may be done within or outside the school.

The ancillary tasks that are allowed to be passed on to teachers should concern curriculum planning, curriculum delivery and pedagogy, assessment of learner’s progress, and homeroom guidance and management. Tasks that do not fall under these categories will be delegated to the administrative personnel of the schools, the order stated.

The issuance also counts hours exceeding the six hours of in-classroom teaching as overload, which should be compensated with at least 25% of the teacher’s regular pay. Payment overload hours should be made on a quarterly basis. In case of inadequate funds, schools may convert overload hours into vacation service credits. Overload hours, however, should not exceed two hours a day.

The issuance is a supplement to DepEd Order 002 released January this year, which ordered the immediate removal of several administrative tasks from teachers’ plates. The order aims to address the longstanding issue of teachers’ burden derived from ancillary tasks that divert them from their core teaching function. 

In its report titled “Miseducation: The Failed System of Philippine Education,” theSecond Congressional Commission on Education found that teachers bear about 50 administrative and ancillary tasks, forcing them to render time beyond their eight-hour duty without pay.