DESPITE calls from teacher groups and other education stakeholders, a Department of Education (DepEd) official yesterday said the department is not dropping the practice of giving "extra-duty allowance" (EDA) to education officials who take part in department-sponsored seminars and training programs.

Education undersecretary for finance Teodisio Sangil Jr. said that instead of doing away with the practice, DepEd is looking at setting a cap on the said allowance, the guidelines of which are now being drafted by a technical working group under him.

"I expect (the guidelines) to be done in two months… to set the standards, specify the requirement on who, how and why an official will be entitled to receive the allowance," he said.

Sangil said the cap will be lower than P10,000.

Education officials reportedly get as much as P10,000 to P15,000 in EDAs but Sangil disputed claims that the practice has cost the DepEd some P150 million. He admitted however that the practice had been in place long before he and current Education Secretary Jesli Lapus joined the department in 2006 following the resignation of Secretary Florencio Abad.

Sangil said the EDA covers board and lodging of officials taking part in trainings and seminars which are often held outside the DepEd central office in Pasig City.

Earlier, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) and the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage) joined DepEd non-teaching personnel in demanding a full accounting of EDA disbursements and the names of officials who benefited from it in the past three years.

Courage president Ferdinand Gaite urged Congress to investigate what he called "highly criminal practice of giving DepEd officials scandalous perks" in the face of underpayment of teachers and non-teaching personnel and the lack of teaching facilities.