As the needs of the education sector become even more crucial with the implementation of pilot face-to-face classes, a group on Wednesday, Nov. 17, challenged presidential aspirants in the 2022 election to include education in their platforms.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines trooped to the office of presidential aspirant Vice President Leni Robredo to submit the education sector’s electoral agenda --- including several petitions signed by over 30,000 public school teachers.

“The botched pandemic response and abject abandonment of the Duterte administration no doubt brought grave damages to the Philippine education system—affecting millions of teachers and students, and the entire nation as well,” said ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio.

Given this, the group challenged Robredo to include the education sector’s demands in her electoral platform and to work with stakeholders in crafting a plan to address the many issues hounding the sector. “These are bare minimums for anyone who aspire to lead the country,” he added.

With nearly 800,000 public school teachers and 300,000 private school teachers in the country, ACT said that the education sector --- without a doubt --- holds a “massive voting power that could turn the tides” in the upcoming 2022 election.

Public school teachers, Basilio added, will also be lending their services as poll workers in 2022 despite the greater risks posed by the health and economic crises.

“The upcoming election is crucial not only in salvaging the state of our education, but also in ensuring that the future will encompass the safe return of our students to schools, improve education access and quality, and better the situation of our education workers,” Basilio said.

“We find it only fair that our presidentiables work to earn our confidence and give us the assurance that they will heed our demands and continue to work with us in bettering the state of education in the country,” he added.

What teachers want

Represented by leaders from its different member and affiliate organizations in the public and private sector, ACT pressed Robredo for her full support to ensure the rights and welfare of teachers and students.

ACT submitted the sector’s comprehensive electoral agenda for salaries, education, health, jobs, and rights.

The group said that there are five urgent demands of the teachers which include: 1) salaries upgrading; 2) public school teachers’ overtime pay for 77 days of excess work; 3) laptop and P1,500 monthly internet allowance; 4) P3,000 Inflation Adjustment Allowance for public school employees and P10,000 Pandemic Aid for private school teachers and staff; and 5) P10,000 Tax-free Election Service Compensation.

ACT also submitted the petition for the salaries upgrading of public school teachers and education personnel --- which was originally promised by Duterte in his 2016 presidential campaign “but never came into fruition.”

Basilio said that teachers under ACT are already tired of waiting for President Duterte to fulfill his campaign promise.

“What we need is a president who will not only listen but also decisively take action to tend to the needs of the education sector now more than ever,” Basilio added.