Classroom visual aids, posters are not distractions from learning — DepEd

Metro Manila, Philippines - Teachers and schools will be allowed to put-up visual aids and posters on classroom walls for school year 2025 to 2026 as the Department of Education (DepEd) said they do not pose a distraction from students’ learning, a contrast to Vice President Sara Duterte’s previous order of leaving classroom walls bare.

DepEd Assistant Secretary Carmela Oracion told NewsWatch Plus that visual aids such as the letters of the alphabet on walls of classrooms for kinder to early elementary students “complete” the learning set-up.

“I don’t consider them as a distraction,” Oracion said on Friday, June 13. “These are not prohibited. Teachers may place them.”

The remark is a silent reversal of DepEd Order 21 imposed by the vice president and former education secretary which strips classroom walls of all visual aids including unnecessary artwork, decorations, tarpaulins, and posters.

The order also removes photos of national heroes and past presidents normally seen in classroom walls.

During Duterte’s term as secretary in 2023, she claimed that a “clean, orderly and functional” classroom will help “learners focus on their studies.”

The move received backlash from the education sector, with experts and groups pointing out studies which go against Duterte’s order.

Former ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro called the order unnecessary and said the department should instead focus on issues such as classroom shortage.

While not formally reversing the order, incumbent Education Secretary Sonny Angara said the department has not been strict about imposing DepEd Order 21.