Dear PAO,
I am a high school student dreaming of becoming a public school teacher. However, when my mother learned about my dream, she tried to discourage me, saying that being a public school teacher is an exceedingly difficult job because they teach more than eight hours a day, excluding the time for the preparation of their lessons. She also told me she knows some public school teachers who were sometimes transferred from one school to another without their consent. Is my mother correct?
Lanie
Dear Lanie,
Please be informed of Sections 6 and 13 of Republic Act 4670, otherwise known as “The Magna Carta for Public School Teachers,” which states that:
“Section 6. Consent for Transfer Transportation Expenses. Except for cause and as herein otherwise provided, no teacher shall be transferred without his consent from one station to another.
“Where the exigencies of the service require the transfer of a teacher from one station to another, such transfer may be effected by the school superintendent who shall previously notify the teacher concerned of the transfer and the reason or reasons therefor.
“Section 13. Teaching Hours. Any teacher engaged in actual classroom instruction shall not be required to render more than six hours of actual classroom teaching a day, which shall be so scheduled as to give him time for the preparation and correction of exercises and other work incidental to his normal teaching duties: Provided, however, That where the exigencies of the service so require, any teacher may be required to render more than six hours but not exceeding eight hours of actual classroom teaching a day upon payment of additional compensation at the same rate as his regular remuneration plus at least twenty-five percent of his basic pay. (Emphasis supplied)
According to the above-mentioned law, no public school teacher shall be transferred from one station to another without his or her consent, except if such transfer is due to the exigency of service. In such a case, the school superintendent shall notify the teacher concerned of the transfer and the reason therefor.
Further, the said law also states that any teacher engaged in actual classroom instruction shall not be required to render more than 6 hours of actual classroom teaching a day, except in the exigency of service, where a teacher may be required to teach more than 6 hours but not more than 8 hours of actual classroom teaching a day, and upon payment of additional compensation for the same rate plus at least 25 percent of his or her basic pay.
In order words, your mother is incorrect. The public school teachers’ right not to be transferred from one station to another and their right to have an actual classroom teaching for more than six hours a day, with the exceptions mentioned above, are protected by the law.
We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our application of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated on.
Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net
