SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday urged private school teachers and non-teaching staff displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic to apply for the more than 43,000 vacancies for teachers at the Department of Education.
In an interview over dzMM, Gatchalian said an estimated 3,200 private school teachers and non-teaching staff who lost their jobs due to the closure of around 800 private schools can apply at the DepEd.
“Medyo mahigpit ang qualifications ng DepEd dahil dapat LET passer ka, dapat nakapasa ka ng board. Pero ganunpaman doon sa mga teachers natin na nawalan ng trabaho, ito ay isang magandang oportunidad para mapunan ‘yung kinakailangan natin na 43,000 na guro (DepEd is strict with its requirements, an applicant must be a passer of the LET [licensure examinations for teachers], must be a board passer. But just the same, to all teachers who lost their job, this is a good opportunity so we can fill the 43,000 vacancies for teachers at DepEd),” said Gatchalian, the chair of the Senate committee on basic education.
He said most of the vacancies are in highly-urbanized cities in the National Capital Region, Cebu, and Davao.
Gatchalian said private schools were forced to close because of low enrolment. He added that more than 300,000 private school students were also forced to transfer to public schools because their parents lost their respective jobs.
“Our public school system has grown amid this pandemic, with our public schools having a 95 percent enrolment rate which means that we are in need of more teachers,” Gatchalian said.