A group of non-teaching personnel on Wednesday called on the Department of Education (DepEd) to grant a special hardship allowance to non-teaching staff assigned to geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.

Romeo Martin, president of the Department of Education–National Employees’ Union (DepEd-NEU) Sarangani Chapter, said many of their members face difficult working conditions, including hard-to-reach school locations, limited transportation and lack of basic necessities.

Martin made the appeal during an interview on the sidelines of the DepEd-NEU National Congress held at the Crown Legacy Hotel in Baguio City.

He said the challenges encountered by non-teaching personnel assigned to remote areas are not experienced by most of their colleagues in other locations, which, he noted, affects morale and work efficiency.

Martin emphasized that non-teaching employees—who handle clerical, administrative, maintenance and other ministerial tasks—play a crucial role in school operations.

“Tutal, kinilala naman na ng DepEd ang nasabing mga hamon at ipinagkaloob na ang special hardship allowance sa mga teaching personnel, nananawagan kami na sana ay ipagkaloob na rin ang kahalintulad na probisyon sa mga non-teaching staff,” he said.

He was referring to DepEd Order No. 039, series of 2021, which grants teachers assigned to hardship posts a special allowance equivalent to 25 percent of their monthly salary, paid for ten months each year.

“Isa pa, pinahintulutan na ng Department of Budget and Management at Civil Service Commission na ipagkaloob ang special allowances sa mga empleyado ng pamahalaan na nasa mga lugar na mahihirap ang kalagayan, basta’t may legal na basehan at alokasyon sa budget,” Martin added.

The Department of Education earlier hired 10,000 non-teaching personnel—7,000 administrative staff and 3,000 support staff—in response to the union’s long-standing call for mass hiring to help ease teachers’ non-teaching workload.