MANILA, Philippines — Forty-seven field officers of the Department of Education have been sworn in as part of the DepEd’s efforts to end the culture of leaving deserving candidates as officers-in-charge (OICs) instead of promoting them to the post in an official capacity, Education Secretary Sonny Angara said over the weekend.

Angara said 22 newly appointed schools division superintendents and 25 assistant schools division superintendents took their oaths of office last week at the DepEd  central office in Pasig.

Education Undersecretary Wilfredo Cabral, who heads the agency’s human resources, said the DepEd has had a culture of allowing deserving candidates to languish in acting capacities.

“There are some who waited for 10 years before being promoted. So we have a culture of OIC in the DepEd, and it’s one of the issues that the secretary is currently addressing,” Cabral said.

Angara said the appointment of longtime OICs as official field officials is one of his priorities.

He added that the agency remains committed to strengthening the leadership within its ranks “as these new officials are expected to contribute to the DepEd’s mission to improve the quality of education nationwide.”

“I am confident that all of you will be instruments of change – of positive change in your communities. I know that you are aware how crucial the role you will be playing is in shaping our youth and hopefully involving our communities more in education,” Angara said.

Apart from this, the DepEd is currently working on the creation of additional teaching positions beyond Teacher I and Teacher III, in line with President Marcos’ pledge during his third State of the Nation Address in July.

Marcos said the government has allocated funds to implement the expanded career progression system for public school teachers, which shall allow teachers to advance in rank and no longer have “public school teachers retiring as mere Teacher,” referring to the lowest public school teacher rank.

Angara earlier said promotion processes remain clogged due to the absence of higher-tier teaching positions.

“What we are advocating for is promotion based on merit, because that’s what many teachers are frustrated about. They have been teachers for so long, and yet they have never been promotedslotastic,” Angara said.

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