VICE President Sara Duterte, also education secretary, has stood her ground on the issue of removing all “unnecessary” materials inside classrooms to lessen the causes of distraction among students.
Earlier, the Department of Education (DepEd) chief issued DepEd Order No. 21, otherwise known as the 2023 Brigada Eskwela Implementing Guidelines. The directive mandates all schools to maintain clean, functional classrooms, which the education department secretary believes is more attune to learning, which is what going to school is all about.
Vice President Duterte issued a statement which was read by DepEd Undersecretary and spokesperson Michael Poa during a radio interview on Aug. 21, basically explaining her directive. She said, “The order is what it is. Take out everything on the wall [and] let learners focus on their studies.”
Highlighting the maintenance of clean and tidy schools, the education department instructed school principals, department heads and teachers to ensure that their grounds, classrooms, and all its walls and other school facilities are “clean and free from unnecessary artwork, decorations, tarpaulin, and posters at all times.”
With the opening of classes in public schools set next week, teachers were reported this week as having a frenzy in dismantling all classroom decorations and wall stuff, even the traditional educational posters and other visual teaching aids.
In the same guidelines, DepEd said schools should take down “oversized signages with commercial advertisements, words of sponsorships and/or endorsements or announcements of any kind or nature. Classroom walls shall remain bare and devoid of posters, decorations or other posted materials.”
`We also anticipate some problems as we go deeper into the “ber” months and our buildings begin to host and display Christmas decorations, one of the biggest expenses incurred by classroom teachers and principals…’
The declutter order also maintained that rooms should not be used to “stockpile materials and should be clear of other unused items or items for disposal.”
We perfectly understand the minimalist policy now being implemented by the Vice President-Education Secretary, but we are somewhat surprised at her next quip, “I know that President Marcos and all other former presidents, Jose Rizal and all heroes past and present, will not all be bothered if learners focus on their teachers, lessons, projects, and assignments.”
Does Duterte’s order include the removal of pictures of heroes like Dr. Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio, and former Presidents Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and Corazon Aquino? What if the school happens to be named after them, or if the school is situated in the home towns or barangays of the heroes of 1896?
Small wonder then that the DepEd Order No. 21 created a huge controversy as soon as it was released, with teachers, parents, students and other stakeholders demanding clarification.
We also anticipate some problems as we go deeper into the “ber” months and our buildings begin to host and display Christmas decorations, one of the biggest expenses incurred by classroom teachers and principals, coming from the school budget, their own pockets, and pockets of students and their parents.
It would mean great savings if this Sara Duterte order stays until the Christmas season.
