LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The Department of Education (DepEd) needs more high school teachers, particularly in Math and Science.
Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Alberto T. Muyot echoed this during the recently concluded regional education congress here.
The undersecretary also revealed that with the approval of DepEd’s proposed budget by the House of Representatives, the lack of classrooms, equipment, chairs, and learning materials will hopefully be addressed.
“We are thankful that our proposed budget was approved and it actually increased by 31%. We hope that we can finish school buildings and provide the necessary equipment, however, the problem now is finding teachers especially for Junior High School (JHS) and Senior High School (SHS),” Muyot expressed.
In a previous engagement with some higher education institutions, Muyot appealed to school administrators to encourage their students who plan to take up education as their college degree to consider Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education.
“We lack secondary teachers especially in the areas of Science and Math. So if you have children or relatives who want to enter DepEd, have them major in Math and Science,” he said.
DepEd has a higher offer for those who finished their college course in Science and Technology under the Junior Level Science Scholarships (JLSS) of the Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute.
Cognizant to Republic Act 10612, series of 2014 or the Act Expanding the Coverage of the Science and Technology Scholarship Program and Strengthening the Teaching of Science and Mathematics in Secondary Schools, DepEd is mandated to guarantee the hiring of these qualified graduates under the science scholarship program and work as Special Science Teacher with salary grade level 13. Nevertheless, these qualifiers must still go through a teacher training program to help them pass the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET).
Graduates of Science, Math or Engineering courses even without LET, teachers who finished technical-vocational courses with TESDA certification, and other teachers with specializations suited for the different tracks in K to 12 can submit their applications to teach in SHS in the nearest schools division offices or high schools.
In the same occasion, Muyot thanked all stakeholders for exerting efforts in ensuring grade 10 completers and others to enroll in grade 11 or SHS. As of August, grade 11 enrollees reached over 1.5 million nationwide exceeding the number of grade 10 completers.
“We expected only around 1.4 million based on the Junior High School completers but we now have a surplus. The very large enrollment in Senior High School is more than double the average annual enrollment of first-year college which usually falls within 700,000 only nationwide,” the undersecretary added.
By Georaloy I. Palao-ay
