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Group seeks funding for Teachers' Magna Carta amid COVID-19 pandemic
Group seeks funding for Teachers' Magna Carta amid COVID-19 pandemic
The 30,000-strong Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) has expressed support to the impending Senate inquiry on the implementation of the 1966 Magna Carta for Public School Teachers (RA 4670), a law which it claims "had long been neglected by the government.”
TDC National Chairperson Benjo Basas said the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers is a very important piece of legislation that is considered as the “bible” of Filipino teachers and lists several provisions that ensure the rights, welfare, and dignity of the country’s public mentors. “However, many of its provisions have not been implemented since the 1960s, and many still are selectively and partly enforced,” he said.
The TDC has been lobbying for the full implementation of the welfare provisions of the Magna Carta, an advocacy that led to the group’s formation in 2006.
Until now, Basas said, teachers do not enjoy the honoraria for teaching overload or overtime pay as stipulated in the Magna Carta. He added that the one salary grade higher upon retirement is “another myth” since the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) uses its own policy for computing the retirement benefits of teachers.
Basas said the Magna Carta ensures other benefits such as consent for transfer and transportation allowance, salary increment from lowest to highest within a maximum period of ten years, paid study leave for those who served for seven years, and criteria set for the determination of salaries.
“Crucial at this time of pandemic are the provisions for free and compulsory medical examination, treatment, and hospitalization, and compensation for injuries,” he said. “These important provisions are not implemented until this very day when the teachers need them most,” he added.
The TDC also commended the initiative of Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, for filing Senate Resolution No. 522 that seeks a comprehensive review of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers.
“This is the first major step in recent decades to critically analyze the law and the failure of government agencies, past and present, to implement its provisions, especially those that need funding to ensure teachers’ welfare,” Basas said. “We hope that funds for this law will be realized next fiscal year,” he added.