The Department of Education (DepEd) is mulling to give incentives to teachers who have received anti-Covid-19 jabs, an official said on Tuesday.

More than 50 percent of teaching and non-teaching personnel nationwide have been injected with Covid-19 vaccines, DepEd Asst. Secretary Malcolm Garma said in a virtual presser.

“Bahagi ng programang ginagawa ngayon ay makabuo tayo ng incentive program para sa mga guro at kawani na nabakunahan na,” Garma said.

Garma said Education Secretary Leonor Briones had ordered the creation of a committee headed by Education Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla to look into possible monetary or non-monetary incentive packages for teachers.

As of Oct. 8, the number of vaccinated teaching and non-teaching school staff nationwide stood at 588,561 or 56.73 percent.

The Philippines is the only country in Asia that has yet to reopen schools for classes as President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly stressed that he would not risk the lives of children amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

After being closed for over two years, the DepEd aims to reopen schools and initiate pilot face-to-face classes in the country on Nov. 15. John Ezekiel J. Hirro