Higher salaries for our public school teachers

BY SONNY ANGARA

TEACHERS have an important role in Philippines society. In a country like the Philippines where education and learning are legacies passed from one generation to the next, teachers are the key people in shaping and molding every generation.

In fact, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) states outright that “teachers are one of the most influential and powerful forces for equity, access and quality in education and key to sustainable global development.” However, it is an unfortunate truth that the following sentence from UNESCO’s website states that “their training, recruitment, retention, status and working conditions remain preoccupying.”

Our public school teachers labor under many difficulties, chief of which is their salary. The current minimum wage in Metro Manila alone, according to the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC), is at around P16,000. A public school teacher’s starting pay is at P19,077. This is not commensurate to the dedication and passion that many of our teachers offer their profession.

Because education is particularly prized in our country, and because our teachers educate every generation of Filipinos, I re-filed a bill to increase public school teacher salaries. My father, who instilled in me a great respect for education, filed a similar bill as early as 2010.

Our measure proposes that a teacher who holds the lowest appointment should have a salary of P36,409, a marked improvement from the present salary at P19,077. The bill also proposes that the salaries of all other teachers with higher salary grades should also be adjusted accordingly. This is just in line with the “parity rule,” where government employees of the same rank in the different branches should have the same base pay. This bill restores that equity for teachers.

However, in line with raising the salaries of our teachers, we should also consider two other concerns.

The first is that there are more than 800,000 public school teachers. This requires that a specifically programmed budget be created to cover the expense of upgrading teachers’ salaries. Because of this, the bill proposes that five years be given to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for proper implementation. It will be necessary that the Department of Education (DepEd) and the DBM come up with the rules and regulations that will be used for implementation.

The second concern is that a clear career advancement track should also be in place so that teachers are encouraged to become much better in their craft. For example, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has scholarship programs available for teachers. This is particularly important, as only 57,761, or 40.38 percent of teachers in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have a master’s degree, and only 20,118, or 14.07 percent have a PhD. We should support more incentives like this, as better teachers can and will translate to better education for the youth.

The DepEd, announced in Sept. 24, 2018, a proposal that career and salary advancement for teachers will be based on competency. This assures that teachers can advance in their careers without having to necessarily go into administration. This is a welcome move, as it will, with proper guidelines, open the higher ranks to many teachers, and prevent situations where veteran teachers remain stuck in lower pay grades.

Addressing these two concerns properly would help our educational system immensely. In a 2013 Thomas B. Ford Institute report, it was noted that an effective teacher could, at times, be more effective than keeping class sizes smaller. With our country’s average class size pegged at between 35 to 50 students, as proposed by the DepEd, it makes sense that we should offer as many career advancement options as possible to our teachers.

After many years of filing this measure, my hope is that this bill will finally be passed and enacted within the forthcoming Congress. After all, our President has mentioned that he does support teachers — and that after our uniformed personnel, they are the ones who are set to receive pay raises. Hopefully, he touches this during his coming State of the Nation address, and perhaps even express that strong action be taken on this matter. After all, educating the youth is one of the paths of change for a brighter future for our nation.

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Sen. Sonny Angara has been in public service for 15 years — nine years as Representative of the Lone District of Aurora, and 6 as Senator. He has authored and sponsored more than 200 laws. He recently won another term in the Senate. (Email: sensonnyangara@yahoo.com| Facebook, Twitter & Instagram: @sonnyangara)i/PN

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