DepEd: 3,712 slots for public school teachers in Bicol open

By Connie B. Destura LEGAZPI CITY --- The Department of Education in Bicol has announced that over 3,700 new teaching positions for public schools are ready for assignment in time for the opening of classes in June for school year 2017-2018. Ramon Fiel Abcede, DepEd regional director, said the Schools Division Offices (SDOs) will start the recruitment, selection and evaluation process once they have received the complete and detailed list of positions from the central office. “We are expecting a communication from the DepEd Central Office soon,” he said. “The employment of the new teachers is guided by DepEd Order Nos. 7 and 22, series of 2015 and DepEd Order No.3, series of 2016,” said Abcede. As prescribed by the central office, the recruitment must be completed by April 30 to give time for the preparations for the required training for the newly-hired teachers, he said. “They shall then be assigned to their respective schools beginning May 15 prior to the opening of classes in June,” he stressed. For 2017, the Bicol region has an allocation of 2,424 teaching positions for senior high school (SHS) while 1,287 positions have been allocated for Kinder to Grade 10. For SHS: Albay has 413 slots, Camarines Norte-142, Camarines Sur-662, Catanduanes-173, Masbate-321, and Sorsogon-332. In the cities, Iriga City has 21; Legazpi City-61, Ligao City-73, and Tabaco City-62, all in Albay; Masbate City-21; Naga City-91; and Sorsogon City-52. For Kinder-Grade 10, Albay has 179, Camarines Norte-141, Camarines Sur-364, Catanduanes-39, Masbate-271 and Sorsogon-128. In the cities, Iriga City has 7, Legazpi City-33, Ligao City-30, Masbate City-19, Naga City-21, Sorsogon City-31 and Tabaco City-24 slots. Abcede said the DepEd central office has allocated 40,140 teaching posts nationwide to strengthen the implementation of the K-12 program.