10/08/2026
DepEd XI Takes Technical Assistance Straight to Schools
DAVAO CITY — Region XI education officials have taken their work out of the office and into the classroom, launching a sweep of school visits that began at Agdao Elementary School.
The first stop put into action a directive from the region's new Regional Director, Dr. Maria Ines C. Asuncion, who has urged her officials to step into the field and see the real situation of teachers and schools for themselves.
The DepEd Regional Office XI cast the visits as technical assistance, not an audit — a way to guide schools on management, curriculum, and program implementation while taking stock of conditions on the ground.
"We expect all schools to be visited," said Dr. Mary Jane Mejorada of the Curriculum and Learning Management Department, making clear no selected school would be left out.
Assisting the regional monitoring team was Dr. Lilian F. Libre, the newly installed Public Schools District Supervisor of Sta. Ana District, who joined the school visit and provided support in the monitoring and technical assistance activities. Her participation underscored the district's commitment to strengthening school-level implementation and ensuring that concerns raised by teachers and school personnel are properly addressed.
Monitors dug into the records, checking performance indicators, school best practices, and the support systems in place for learners — testing whether the paperwork matched the classroom.
Key programs drew the sharpest focus. Officials reviewed the CRLA, the Early Language, Literacy, and Numeracy Assessment (ELLNA), National Achievement Test (NAT), the ARAL Program, and the reading program, including the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI).
They also pressed schools on the School Improvement Plan — whether it was built around real needs or filed as a formality.
The review widened to student welfare and readiness. Monitors examined school action on bullying, the parents' and students' handbook, and the learning continuity plan meant to keep classes running during calamities.
Then the teachers spoke up. Their biggest concern: the ILAW lesson-plan format, which many said takes too much time to prepare. Officials acknowledged the strain and urged schools to streamline without cutting quality.
In response, the monitoring team encouraged teachers to tap artificial intelligence as a supplementary tool in crafting lesson plans and learning materials — but to do so with caution. AI, they stressed, should be used only when its output matches the DepEd curriculum, serving as an aid to a teacher's judgment rather than a replacement for it.
"AI can help lighten the load our teachers carry, but it must always be aligned with the DepEd curriculum," said Dr. Jemima Galang, a member of the monitoring team. "It is there to support our teachers, not to replace their judgment — and the quality of instruction must remain intact."
