Manila, March 10 -- Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has expressed strong support for the Department of Education's (DepEd) initiative to renew and hire over 7,000 administrative support staff, aimed to reduce non-teaching workload of public school teachers.

He cited the findings of the Second Congressional Commission on Education, which revealed that public school teachers handle more than 50 non-teaching and ancillary tasks, thus reducing their ability to concentrate on instruction.

"The Department of Education's renewal and hiring of more than 7,000 administrative support staff under contract of service will help decongest our teachers' workload, which will increase their focus on teaching," Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate Committee on B...