Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Friday highlighted the progress in the Department of Education (DepEd) despite being called a “fake education leader.”
In a statement, Duterte cited several developments secured by the sector thus far, following tirades against her credibility.
“I have never claimed to be anything — but for the past eight months, the Department of Education has made strides in addressing the problems burdening our learners and education personnel,” she said.
Duterte issued the remark after the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines questioned her “authenticity and legitimacy” as DepEd Secretary.
The group said Duterte has “not satisfactorily addressed a single problem in the sector.”
Duterte said such comments from the ACT group show how it is “obviously uninformed.”
She then cited efforts of the DepEd to push for learning recovery considering the effects of distance learning during the height of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
“With the help of our partners, the department has successfully reopened schools and restarted onsite learning —a decision that was vehemently opposed and criticized by ACT Teachers,” she added.
Duterte also highlighted the laid-out plans to address perennial problems of classroom congestion, lack of teachers and the easing of their workloads, among others.
“In January, DepEd launched the Matatag Agenda, featuring the two-track approach of the Department — complementing the traditional solutions of hiring more teachers and building more classrooms with more innovative solutions of tapping modern technology to bridge the gaps in basic education,” she said.
The DepEd earlier underscored the need to digitize programs and processes to streamline services and highlight the department’s transparency and accountability.
Duterte also called out the “duplicity” of the group, as it claims to represent teachers in Congress.
“What has this self-proclaimed education sector representative done to remedy the problems we are facing now? And for 12 years now, ACT Teachers cannot even publicly and explicitly condemn the violence perpetrated by the terrorist group NPA (New People’s Army) against our learners, our teachers, and other school personnel,” she said.
Earlier this week, Duterte started responding to the group’s tirades with a challenge to condemn NPA attacks in Masbate, as ACT urged DepEd to hire 30,000 teachers and allocate PHP100 billion worth of funds for classroom construction annually.
Besides its “unreasonable and impossible” approach, Duterte maintained it was just a diversion from the supposed concern of terroristic attacks in Masbate, affecting learners’ education. (PNA)
Photo credit: Facebook/MayorIndaySaraDuterteOfficial
