Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday vowed to pursue measures aimed at granting higher salaries for teachers saying this would further help boost their morale.
“Isa sa ating mga adbokasiya ay pataasin ang moral ng ating mga guro at hikayatin ang mga estudyante natin na kumuha ng kurso sa pagtuturo (One of our advocacies is to increase the morale of our teachers and encourage our students to take up teaching courses)," said Gatchalian who is seeking a fresh Senate term in the upcoming May 2022 elections.
"Isang paraan dyan ay taasan po yung sweldo (One way we can do that is to increase their salary),” said Gatchalian, who is also the chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture.
In a forum hosted by the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) entitled “Ang Senador at ang Edukasyon,” the senator shared his proposal on how to increase teachers’ salaries, especially at the entry level.
Gatchalian said he would propose raising the salary grade of Teacher I from Salary Grade 11 to either Salary Grade 13 or 14.
Currently, the salary of a Teacher I position or Salary Grade 11 is at P25,439 under the third tranche of the Salary Standardization Law V. But if the salary grade of Teacher I is raised to Salary Grade 13 under the current tranche, the starting pay would be equivalent to P29,798.
Based on estimates by Gatchalian's office, this would require an additional P58.6-billion on top of the P379.6-billion annual compensation of Teachers I, II, and III.
He lamented that the entry-level pay for Filipino teachers is lower compared to other ASEAN countries such as Indonesia (P66,099), Singapore (P60,419), Malaysia (P44,496), Thailand (P37,152), and Vietnam (P36,115).
“Ang guro po ang pinakamahalagang sangkap pagdating sa sektor ng edukasyon dahil direkta silang nagbibigay ng kaalaman sa ating mga mag-aaral (The role of teachers are very important in the education sector because they are directly involved in imparting knowledge to students)," he said.
"Importante na nasusuportahan natin ang kanilang mga pangangailangan at napapangalagaan ang kanilang kapakanan (It's important that we support their needs and improve their welfare),” Gatchalian stressed.