Dr. Salustiano Jimenez, regional director of DepEd-7 addresses the issue regarding teachers committing violence against misbehaving students. | CDN Photo/Niña Mae Oliverio
CEBU CITY, Philippines — A Department of Education in Central Visayas (DepEd-7) official urged teachers to look for alternative strategies to bring back their students’ attention instead of resorting to extreme disciplinary action.
Dr. Salustiano Jimenez, regional director of DepEd-7 made this comment on Tuesday, October 2, following the slapping incident in Antipolo, Rizal involving a student and a teacher.
According to the reports, a Grade 5 student died days after his teacher allegedly pulled his hair and slapped him in school.
READ: Student in Antipolo dies days after being ‘slapped’ by teacher
Jimenez said on Tuesday that while he did not exactly know the reason why the incident happened, he does not support corporal punishment.
“There are so many rights of the children that are violated if you will inflect harm sa atoang mga bata either emotional, mental, o physical,” he stated.
When asked what strategies the teachers could use in handling students who do not listen to them, Jimenez referred this to psychology in relation to guidance and counseling.
“Kung ang mga bata ingon ani, pangitaan gyud sila og activities nga maka draw sa ilang attention back to the teacher,” the DepEd-7 chief said.
Moreover, among the strategies that could help lessen the burden on teachers is the slashing or lowering of the class size.
For example, in preschool, the ideal number is 25 to 30 learners in a classroom.
“Dili na gyud palabihan og daghan kay once gani daghan na kaayo, mao na dili na maka control ang atong mga teachers and we know how passionate our teachers are in their teachings,” Jimenez added.
He said that having too many students in a classroom could stress out the teachers, especially when students opt to play inside classrooms.
“That’s why we have in-service trainings gyud kanunay para ipa-remind sa mga teachers [nga] kinahanglan mao ni pangbuhaton para dili gyud maabot sa punto nga [mo commit og violence],” the DepEd-7 regional director said.
Consequences
Moreover, Jimenez said that teachers who would inflict any form of harm on the students could be penalized.
When asked if the teacher who committed the violence would lose their license, he said it would depend on the intensity of the situation.
“There is always due process that we have to observe,” he said.
However, he did not close the possibility that the teacher could lose their license in some situations.
He also said that with the new Matatag curriculum, the burden of teachers with their loads would be lessened.
“Dili na kaayo daghan ang comptencies nga ilang e-develop para sa mga bata nga tagaan gyud og individual time per competency,” he added. /rcg
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