In time for the World Teachers’ Day (WTD) celebration, teachers’ federations, unions, associations and groups, aired their concerns in the new learning set-up and the opening of the school year on its second year amid the pandemic.

“To honor the sacrifice and dedication of teachers, instead of plaques or medals, we urge the government to properly address our issues, as teacher frontliners especially in this time of the pandemic,” said Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PS-LINK) leader Violeta Fernandez in an online press conference organized by the Civil Society for Educational Reform (E-NET Philippines) on Tuesday, Oct. 5.

“Na-COVID na, na-red tag pa kami,” Fernandez said regarding the “malicious red-tagging” that prevents teachers and education workers from joining unions.

The group said that the government and the Department of Education (DepEd) should respect the rights of teachers to freedom of association and the right to organization, guaranteed under the Philippine Constitution and the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers.

Meanwhile, teacher Framer Mella from the Southern Philippines Methodist Colleges Inc. (SPMCI), detailed the concerns of teachers through a poem titled, "By the way, Happy Teachers' Day."

“We experience anxiety and depression. We are stressed out, and we know both our students and non-teaching personnel; are also problematic during this pandemic," Mella said.

Teacher Ahmer Felizardo from the group Gurong Nagbabalik sa Bayan shared that college teachers are shelling out their own money for mobile load and gadgets for their online class.

“We have no hazard pay for when we get out from home to visit students, especially those living in remote areas. For those part-time teachers who have no item/position; they do not receive any benefits,” Felizardo said.

Meanwhile, Benjo Basas from the Teacher Dignity Coalition (TDC) also shared that teachers are getting sick, some have died from COVID infection.

“They were not given any benefits or assistance, despite it being mandated in the Magna Carta,” he added.

During the online forum, public school and private school teacher-leaders also will discussed various issues including on freedom of association, right to organization and red-tagging; health and safety or COVID-19 infections; and working conditions of teachers for both basic education and tertiary levels.

Issues related to Magna Carta in pandemic context; issues and problems of private schools, teachers and staff; and education budget and financing by DepEd and national government were also tackled by the resource speakers.