The Department of Education (DepEd) said that qualified teachers will receive P1,500 this month which is for a medical check-up allowance and World Teachers Day incentive.
DepEd Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla, in this week’s virtual press briefing, gave some updates on processing and downloading of funds from the Central Office. Currently, she said that DepEd is processing the P400-million annual medical examinations amounting to P500 per teacher.
On Oct. 5 - the scheduled school opening and also the World Teacher’s Day (WTD) - Sevilla said that teachers are scheduled to receive P1,000 incentive each.
“About P919.8 million has been downloaded and we’re processing this already so our teachers are happiest, at least,” she added.
Sevilla said that DepEd is also working on the October payroll. “We will wait for the guidelines of finance on the availability of the Bayanihan law,” she added.
To further help teachers, Sevilla said that DepEd is ready to give them additional funding for learning resources in the amount of 1,031,497,000.
“This is currently under processing and this is an additional fund to the P9 billion which we already processed early on,” she said.
Likewise, Sevilla said that there will also be additional funds for the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) for the division offices amounting to P450,000,000.
In June this year, Sevilla said that a total of P3.185 billion was allotted for the Cash Allowance (formerly called "chalk allowance") of teachers as included in the General Appropriations (GAA) for 2020. She added that there are "more or less 857,000 teaching positions" under DepEd to date.
While they appreciate the financial assistance from DepEd, the Teacher’s Dignity Coalition (TDC) said that teachers “deserve healthcare beyond P500.”
“The measly P500 medical check-up allowance intended to be given for the first time since 1966 cannot absolve the DepEd of its blatant disregard for this provision since its enactment into law,” TDC said in a statement. “Nevertheless, the recent positive response, while decades late, is here appreciated,” it added.