DepEd doubles teacher vacation leave to 30 days

Metro Manila, Philippines – Public school teachers will have a month’s worth of vacation leave beginning October, the Department of Education announced on Friday, Sept. 27, doubling the current privilege.

The agency said the move will allow teachers to offset absences when ill or for personal reasons, and recover deductions during school break.

Public school teachers earn vacation leave credits for work during holidays, summer, and weekends.

“The revised order now entitles incumbent teachers with at least one year of service, as well as newly hired teachers appointed within four months after the start of classes, to 30 days of (vacation leave) annually. Additionally, newly hired teachers whose appointments are issued four months after the start of classes will receive 45 days of (leave) per year,” DepEd said in a press release.

The agency said teachers may also earn 1.25 hours of vacation credits for every hour of “eligible service” during school days. If the service is rendered on weekends, summer, and holiday breaks, the credit will be 1.5 hours per hour.

“Teachers assigned to perform ancillary tasks or additional teaching-related duties outside of their regular hours will also benefit from the new guidelines. These tasks include attending training sessions on weekends or holidays, conducting remedial or enhancement classes, election-related duties, parent-teacher conferences, and home visits,” the agency said.

DepEd said the Schools Division Superintendent should authorize the vacation credit.

NewsWatch Plus correspondent Lance Mejico contributed to this report