Article by:
Filane Mikee Cervantes
MANILA – A lawmaker on Monday said teachers should be protected from threats of false and malicious accusations of child abuse if they are exercising their disciplining authority within the bounds of law, good morals, good customs and public order.
During the hearing of the House Committee on Basic Education and Culture, OFW party-list Representative Marissa Magsino said some teachers and school personnel have become vulnerable to online attacks and malicious and false allegations even when they exercise their duties within what is allowed by law.
“Unfortunately, when our teachers and school personnel exercise their duty to discipline our students within their scope of authority, they are subjected to complains by the parents and ridiculed by the public,” she said.
“These attacks effectively hamper them from fully discharging their duties, afraid of losing their jobs or having their reputation smeared,” she added.
The committee has tasked a technical working group (TWG) to consolidate and improve the proposed measures for institutionalizing support mechanisms for public school teachers and school personnel in matters of student discipline and classroom management.
The proposal seeks to implement classroom management guidelines developed by the Department of Education (DepEd) which shall be applicable to all teaching and non-teaching personnel in all public schools who come into direct contact with students while performing their duties.
“The prevalence of problematic and disruptive student behavior in schools has called attention to the need to train our educators to effectively manage their classes through appropriate discipline strategies to promote the student's sense of responsibility in the classroom and to produce more responsible citizens,” Magsino said.
Magsino said the measure aims to protect teachers from being repeatedly beaten by legal lawsuits that would not only be financially, psychologically and emotionally draining, but will likewise destroy the learning flow of students because teachers will be too preoccupied by these lawsuits.
The teachers shall be given training and professional development relating to student discipline and classroom management on child behavior and psychology, classroom management techniques, positive discipline and other related fields. (PNA)
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