No longer overloaded and under compensated, the teachers are.
The Department of Education's (DepEd) implementation of the Matatag curriculum in Eastern Visayas has been hailed as a game changer for teachers in the region.
The new curriculum, designed to reduce the burden on educators, has brought significant relief to teachers who were previously overwhelmed by the weight of administrative tasks.
Prior to the introduction of Matatag, teachers in Eastern Visayas were struggling to manage their workload, spending more time on paperwork and administrative tasks than actually teaching.
The new curriculum aims to address this issue by providing a more streamlined and efficient approach to teaching and learning.
More Time To Teach
According to a survey conducted by Opinyon 8,, teachers in Eastern Visayas reported a significant reduction in workload following the implementation of Matatag.
In fact, around 80 percent of respondents said they felt less stressed and could focus more on teaching since the curriculum was introduced.
"We used to spend hours preparing lesson plans, submitting reports, and attending meetings. It was exhausting," a teacher from Tolosa, Leyte said.
"But now, we're able to focus more on teaching and less on paperwork. It's made a huge difference in our daily routine."
Another teacher from a school in Borongan City, echoed similar sentiments.
"The new curriculum has given us more time to devote to our students. We can now provide them with more personalized attention and support, which has led to improved learning outcomes."
Overworked
While the new curriculum focuses on the learners, it is a relief for many how it also looked after the welfare of the educators.
Since the implementation of K-12 and the pandemic, teachers were forced to juggle multiple paperworks and can no longer focus on the most important task — teaching.
Teachers were also getting sick and depressed as a result of being overworked. This further resulted in numerous resignations. Local teachers choose to work abroad.
Unburdened
At present, DepEd Region 8 Assistant Regional Director Romelo Al K. Firmo assured that with the new curriculum, teachers will be unburdened significantly.
Firmo shared that, presently, there are 500 job openings for non-teaching personnel in the region who will take on the ancillary tasks.
In fact, teachers were assured that five hours will be dedicated to actual classroom teaching, one hour for class advising duties, and only two hours for ancillary tasks that were previously considered as "home work" for them.
This would finally give the teachers the time to step out of their uniforms and be present for their own families without worrying about backlogs.
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