Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte on Monday assured the local government’s support for teachers as they start the school year in this time of crisis, as she joined them in the celebration of the World Teachers’ Day.

"We assure you the city government, the education affairs unit and the schools division office are with you as you conduct classes this school year," Belmonte said in her video message on Facebook.

Despite the "pandemic that greatly affected the education sector" and as we transition "to new learning modalities," Belmonte said the city's teachers "should still provide the same quality of education."

She added that this should come "no matter what the methods of the teaching may be."

While the local government is pressing for the same quality of education to the students following the shifting to online classes, Belmonte said that the city is doing its best to help teachers with that.

"Here are some steps we have taken to assist you: First, 3,120 laptops will soon be distributed in all public schools in the city which you can use for your online classes. Second, we will give 1,000 monthly load allowance for your Internet needs," the local chief executive said.

"Third, you are also given a subscription to a teaching aid system. Fourth, we allocated a separate fund to provide financial assistance to the city’s public school teachers. And last, teaching and non-teaching personnel alike will receive a monthly supplemental allowance of 1,500 pesos," she added.

Belmonte expressed her gratitude to teachers for all their "sacrifices and dedication," especially in this time of pandemic.

"Maraming salamat sa inyong mga sakripisyo para sa aming mga kabataan. Tunay namin kayong ipinagmamalaki (We thank you very much for all your sacrifices for our youth. We are really proud of you)," she added.