Are public school teachers still required to report on July 19?

Are public school teachers still required to report on July 19? 

Here's a clear answer to the question from the public post of Sir Johnson Sunga, Education Program Supervisor at DepEd Region 1 in his Facebook account on Saturday, July 17, 2021.

Sir Sunga said that teachers are already on break or on vacation until September 12, 2021. According to him, this means that there will be no more physical reporting and no work from home until the next opening of school year.

"I’ve been receiving this question. I’ll answer this using plain language," he said.

 
"HINDI. Naka-break or nasa vacation ang mga guro hanggang September 12, 2021. Ibig sabihin, walang physical reporting at wala ring work from home. Bakasiyon," explained Sunga.

What if the school forms are not yet finished?

The official said that there must be a written permission from the school head to the Schools Division Superintendent stating the reason of going and the date of reporting to require the teachers to report to school. 

"Eh paano kung hindi pa tapos ang forms? "Kailangan ng permiso mula sa SDS upang mapapunta ang mga guro sa paaralan. Mangyayari ito kung may request ang school head sa SDO. Ang rason ng pagpapapunta at kung kailan ay dapat lamang na nakasaad."

Sunga also said that teachers should be given service credits in case they go to school or attend a virtual meeting because they are on vacation. He also stressed that even if it's virtual, a permit or order is needed through a memorandum.

"Ang mga guro ay kailangang mabigyan ng service credits sakaling sila ay papuntahin sa paaralan o kaya naman ay dumalo sa birtuwal na pagpupulong dahil sila ay nakabakasiyon na. Oo. Maski virtual pa yan, kailangan ng permit o order sa pamamagitan ng isang memorandum." Sunga ended.

READ: Teachers not required to report during vacation without approved request

READ FROM SOURCE

DepEd Order

According to the school calendar released by the Department of Education (DepEd), classes for School Year (SY) 2020-2021 shall end on July 10, 2021.

DepEd Order (DO) 012 s 2021 titled Amendment to DepEd Order 007 s2020, School Calendar and Activities for SY 2020-2021 stated that "Quarter 4 shall be from May 4 to July 10, 2021."

"Teachers are not paid during vacation and therefore school heads should not require their teachers to report physically in school without letter request approved by the higher authority," according to source.

"The compensation that the teachers are receiving during the summer (school break) and Christmas vacations, is called Proportional Vacation pay, computed in proportion to the number of days they have served during the school year."

"The proportional vacation pay is a benefit given to public school teachers as a counterpart to the mandated leaves granted to other public and private sector workers. It used to be given during summer breaks, after teachers have rendered 10 months of continuous service in a school year."

"Also, a newly hired teacher must not expect too much for the continued payment of their salary once they are included within the payroll period. They may not receive the salary during summer break, or they might be deactivated in payroll due to earned PVP."

"Service credits must be given to teachers reporting to school for work beyond July 10," the source added.

"It is stated in the guidelines in the grant of service credits that Vacation service credits shall not be granted for services rendered without previous authority, therefore it is very important to have an approved request before requiring them (teachers) to report," the source added.

'Reporting to school nowadays is very risky. If your reporting is unauthorized (no approved written request or memo) and something happened to you, it may be very difficult to request for Rehabilitation Privilege  from the agency since your reporting to school is not on official travel or not authorized overtime,' said source.

Government employees officially reporting to school who met an accident are entitled to Rehabilitation Privilege (Sec. 55, Rule XVI, Omnibus Rules Implementing E.O. No. 292). This special privilege is applicable if the accident happened while on duty, occurred while on official travel, authorized overtime, detail orders, and special assignment orders. and occurred while the employee was on his way to work or on his way home from work. (CSC-DBM JC No. 1, p. 2015).

READ: Updated Guidelines on Grant of Vacation Service Credits to Teachers