As the country celebrates World Teachers’ Day (WTD) and National Teachers’ Day, a group of education workers urged the government to look into the situation of teachers since it is in their state where the “real situation of the educational system is best reflected.”

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines, in a statement issued Wednesday, Oct. 5, said that at the end of the day, “all troubles of education fall upon the shoulders” of teachers, who as frontliners of education, are expected to “conquer all” so that learning can happen inside the classrooms.

“One also only has to look at the situation of the teachers to see how a government values education,” ACT said.

The group noted that the gravity of the current education crisis brought about by decades of state neglect has rendered teachers “more overworked, underpaid and undersupported than ever.”

In particular, ACT pointed out that “miserly” government spending on education has created big shortages in schools, classrooms, facilities, teachers, education support personnel, and teaching and learning resources.

“Such gives us teachers who are made to handle six to eight classes of fifty or more students daily while compelled to also act as registrars, clerks, nurses, guidance counselors, security guards and janitors in schools,” the group lamented.

READ:

https://mb.com.ph/2022/09/04/were-not-slaves-teachers-hope-deped-to-grow-a-conscience-and-give-them-addl-pay/

Due to insufficient education budget, ACT said that teachers --- who are paid lower than a police patrolman --- are “expected to spend out-of-pocket to fix their classrooms and deliver 21st century education with the use of personally-funded laptops, printers and projectors.”

ACT also pointed out that due to a lack of enough funding for the education sector, teachers --- who cannot sustain the needs of their own families and are so deep in loans they have to “moonlight as call center agents, food delivery or taxi drivers, or online sellers.”

Moreover, the group said that due to teachers’ low salaries in the country, many of them leave their vocation and apply for better-paying jobs overseas.

READ:

https://mb.com.ph/2022/09/30/heart-breaking-group-says-more-filipino-teachers-apply-for-work-abroad/

The group added that because the budget for education remained insufficient all these years coupled with learning gaps that became worse under the pandemic, the country’s educational system has “gone so miserable to be known as one of the poorest-performing in the world.”

ACT then asked how else “can we rise above this situation when the dire conditions of our teachers which was brought about by the grave educational crisis.”

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https://mb.com.ph/2022/09/28/deped-urged-to-ease-inhumane-workload-of-public-school-teachers/