DepEd allows schools to revert to 1-hour classes to ease teachers’ workload

MANILA, Philippines — After consulting with teachers, the Department of Education has allowed schools to return to holding one-hour classes under the new curriculum starting the second quarter of the school year. 

DepEd Order 12, s. 2024, released on Wednesday, September 18, gives schools the option of allotting 45, 55 or 60 minutes for each subject, depending on teacher availability and the size of the student population, among others. 

Teacher groups like the Alliance of Concerned Teachers and the Teachers Dignity Coalition (TDC) earlier called on Education Secretary Sonny Angara to amend the new Matatag curriculum as its shortened 45-minute class duration inadvertently assigned teachers with more subjects to teach in a day. 

TDC Chairperson Benjo Basas called the newly implemented curriculum for grades 3 to 10 “impractical” and “illegal” as it forced teachers to handle eight sections in six hours to meet their teaching load. 

Six hours is the minimum classroom teaching time required from public school teachers. Two hours are allotted for non-teaching or ancillary tasks.

The DepEd order amends the Matatag curriculum to “accommodate the different contexts of schools” and give them the “flexibility” to determine the time duration for classes based on need.

Schools are also given the leeway to “propose other combinations” of class time allotments as long as the learning contact time is at least five hours and 30 minutes daily.

The order also sets minimum weekly time allotments for each subject, with English, Mathematics, Science, and Good Manners and Right Conduct / Values Education required to be taught for at least 225 minutes a week. 

In a statement on Wednesday, September 18, TDC welcomed the DepEd order and noted that it was a result of the department’s willingness to consult teachers and school principals.

“This will result in teachers handling fewer sections and shorter actual classroom teaching hours,” he said.

However, the TDC chairperson also asked the department to explain why it chose to retain the earlier DepEd Order No. 5, which they opposed as it required teachers to teach for a minimum of six hours before being eligible for overtime pay.

This order was released by DepEd in April under Vice President Sara Duterte to set the guidelines on the appropriate teaching load for teachers and the payment of teaching overload for those who go beyond the prescribed number of hours.

While teachers have long sought the provision of overtime pay, based on TDC and ACT’s statements, at the heart of their opposition to DepEd Order No. 5 is its requirement for teachers to render six hours of classroom time, which they said violated the “spirit and letter of Republic Act 4670 or the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers.” 

Launched in 2023, the Matatag curriculum developed under Duterte is set to be implemented in phases. For School Year 2024-2025, the curriculum will first be used by Kindergarten and Grades 1, 4 and 7.

The new curriculum was introduced as part of DepEd’s efforts to address students’ learning losses during the pandemic. It decongested the curriculum for Kinder to Grade 10 and placed a greater emphasis on numeracy and literacy.