The return of sports administration to the Department of Education (DepEd) could burden teachers if not properly reintegrated, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines said Thursday.
ACT Chairperson Ruby Bernardo said, “We are challenging Secretary Angara; while we want more young people to join and love our sports, let's also focus on our teachers.” businessworld in an interview.
“We are closely monitoring so that no teacher suffers a loss in terms of overtime pay and additional compensation,” he said.
Ms Bernardo said that although public schools have produced award-winning athletes, the ground reality needs improvement.
He said, “Our athletes, like Hidilyn Diaz, who came from a public school, were encouraged and trained by our teachers. More teachers would be encouraged to train students if there was good compensation.”
“I think our schools are not equipped to facilitate the training of children and our teachers also need compensation,” he said.
Lack of sports facilities and lack of proper funding is one of the concerns identified by the group.
“Our teachers, who are also coaches, are complaining about being paid overtime for training,” Ms Bernardo said. “They sometimes also have to pay for traveling allowance, clothes and other sports equipment during children's competitions.”
Earlier this month, President Ferdinand R. According to Marcos Jr., the government is gradually reintroducing sports into the Department of Education to instill discipline, camaraderie and sportsmanship among students.
“DepEd was previously called DECS – Department of Education, Culture and Sports. Then sports were removed from schools,” he said in Filipino during a speech at the Cagayan Provincial Athletic Association (CPAA) meet.
“We are gradually reinstating sports in schools so that all of our young people can experience sports, build physical strength and learn how to work with a team and interact with others,” he said.
From 1984 to 2001, the Department of Education covered primary, secondary and non-formal education, including culture and sports. In 2001, under Republic Act 9155, known as the Basic Education Governance Act, the Department removed sports and culture from its scope and shifted its focus to basic education. — Almira Louise S. Martinez