MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) said teachers get to have their turn to be vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in June.

DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones reported that more than 790,000 public school teachers and personnel are set to receive the vaccination in June to protect teachers during school enrollment.

“Siguro, mga June ito mag-umpisa. By that time, mag-start na ang enrollment, marami nang activities sa mga eskuwelahan. Kailangan protektado ang mga teacher (It might start around June because, by that time, enrollment and other activities will begin. We need to protect our teachers),” she said.

Briones said teachers and other education personnel will no longer need to register since the department already have a list for the vaccination program for education frontliners.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has previously approved the recommendation of DepEd to include education frontliners in the government’s A4 COVID-19 vaccination priority list from the B1 cluster. AAC 

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) expressed its gratitude to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) for including education frontliners in the A4 priority vaccination group.

In a statement on Friday (April 16), DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones is thankful to the IATF for approving their recommendation to include teachers and other education frontliners.

“As reiterated by the President, vaccination is a key component of any roadmap to the resumption of face-to-face classes. With the adjustment of vaccine prioritization (from B1 to A4) for basic education frontliners, we can speed up the rollout of vaccines among our teachers and non-teaching staff,” DepEd said.

DepEd also reiterated its commitment to continuously protect the health and safety of teachers, learners and non-teaching personnel, and prioritize their welfare at this critical time. AAC

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday renewed his push for the government to uphold the welfare of teachers amid the threat of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Gatchalian made the call following the deaths of five Department of Education (DepEd) personnel in Isabela due to coronavirus infection.

“Habang patuloy ang pagtaas ng mga kaso ng COVID-19 sa bansa, lalong dapat paigtingin ng DepEd ang pag-aalaga sa ating mga gurong isinasakripisyo ang kanilang kaligtasan at kalusugan upang maipagpatuloy ng ating mga kabataan ang kanilang pag-aaral,” Gatchalian said in a statement.

“Kailangang tiyakin sa ating mga guro na may agarang tulong na maipapaabot sa kanila kung sakaling sila ay magkasakit,” he added.

Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts, and Culture, said that upholding the welfare of teachers entails the strict enforcement of the alternative work arrangement, the assurance of access to COVID-19 testing, treatment for those who would contract the virus, and the prioritization of teachers in the vaccination program.

DepEd last year assured that its personnel is covered by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth). The Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) also offers the Employees’ Compensation (EC) Program, which provides income, medical, and other health benefits in the event of work-related sickness, injury, or death.

The School Division Office (SDO) in Isabela earlier said that it has reached out to the grieving families to provide urgent assistance and facilitate the expeditious release of benefits. DepEd also said that the infections were acquired through community transmission and not in their line of work.

Teachers’ groups have been calling on DepEd to extend financial assistance to personnel who get sick with COVID-19, claiming that teachers who got infected did not receive financial assistance from the government.

They said that any financial assistance extended to them comes from personal contributions or personal help from some government officials.

Gatchalian also reiterated his push to move up teachers in the COVID-19 vaccination priority list.

Teachers are currently under the B1 category with other social workers.

Gatchalian argued that teachers should instead be in the A4 sector with the frontline personnel of other essential sectors.