43 Returning OFWs Hired as Teachers in Central Luzon

The Department of Education has announced that it will be hiring 43 returning overseas Filipino workers to teach in different schools within the region.

According to Michelle Catap-Lacson, DepEd-III project development officer, the ex-OFWs will be given permanent teaching positions in public schools near their residences in the provinces of Aurora, Bulacan, Bataan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija and Tarlac.

“They will be automatically given permanent teacher items, and be assigned to schools with shortages,” she said, adding that 25 teachers will be assigned in the elementary level while 18 will be assigned in the Junior High School level.

She added that the Schools Division Offices have been instructed to conduct thorough interview and demonstration teaching and address noted gaps through the conduct of teacher trainings and other apt interventions.

The hiring of OFW-teachers is in line with the program “Sa ‘Pinas Ikaw ang Mam at Sir” Program of the Department of Labor and Employment in partnership with Department of Education, which was launched in 2014 to assist OFWs who are passers of the Licensure Examination for Teachers while working abroad as professional teachers or household service workers to be employed as teachers when they return to the Philippines.

The Commission on Higher Education, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and the Professional Regulation Commission also collaborated in the program.

Jenalyn Santiago, 27, a former OFW working as a teacher in Brunei Darussalam for six years and returned to the Philippines last year, said the program is a great help for OFWs who want to return to their home country and stay with their family.

After DepEd hired her last year, Santiago is now teaching at the Francisco Henson Elementary School in Sta. Cruz, Porac, Pampanga.

DepEd said that for SY 2017-2018, there were a total of 542 OFWs who passed the evaluation and endorsement of DOLE by having passed the LET, taken refresher courses, or earned teraching experience within the last five years.

The current minimum salary take-home pay for public school teachers is P18,549.