With all the news and stories said and heard about the recently given Performance Based Bonus (PBB), mixed emotions have been stirred up among the personalities at school.

Some were delightfully ecstatic; others were simply happy while still others seem to be just giving fair smiles upon receiving their “bonus”.

DepEd people are so used at receiving bonuses as such, the mid-year and the Christmas bonus, the PNoy bonuses and the like.

This has been the first time that this performance-based bonus was given to government employees; of course DepEd included, but with regards to the distribution and allocation of this bonus, how fair is fair?

It has been said that this PBB was based on the National Achievement Test (NAT) results, among other criteria though most DepEd personnel are not really aware of.

If it were based on the Performance of the pupils on the NAT, was it really a reliable, valid and fair instrument to gauge the performance of the teacher for the whole year? Would it only be the NAT results that could tell if the teacher has performed at par or if the teacher has only faired so-so during the year? Does NAT say it all?

Upon receiving the bonus, as a teacher, I thought of it as a way of introspecting. I tried to recall how much I have given to my pupils and how much I have given my profession for the year. I asked myself if I was only sitting on my chair the whole time I was teaching that I only deserved a Php5000 Performance-Based Bonus. I questioned myself if I was only killing my time during the year while others were “sweating it out” that they deserve more than what I got. Was that really the case?

Did the PBB really give incentive to which incentive was actually due – fair incentive for fair work? Did it really work that way for the PBB?

Bonuses like PBB, in essence, should lift up the spirit of the receiver of the bonus: should recharge the energy when the energy is running out; should increase self-esteem knowing that you have got a carrot and not a stick. It should make the receiver feel that all efforts have been justly compensated and that all labours of efficiency and hard work have been fairly rewarded. For sure, the government and the Department only wish to gladden the hearts of the government employees and to reward everyone for the work they have done.

But with the allocation of the recent PBB, did it really fulfil what it was aimed for to achieve?  That is to give the incentive to employees to satisfy their needs and expectations based on their performance?

It is hoped that in the future, performance evaluations can be more fair and square and that better instruments to gauge teacher’s performance can be devised so that fair would really be fair – to give what is really due to each one.

 

 

 

By: Gemmaruth G. Castro | Jose V. Abejar Memorial Elementary School | Abucay, Bataan