Groups on Thursday, Oct. 5, called on the government to prioritize the welfare and uplift the dignity of Filipino teachers by acting on their concerns and by addressing the problems faced by the country’s education sector.
In separate statements issued in celebration of the World Teachers’ Day (WTD), the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines and Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) urged the government to truly show its recognition for teachers by paying attention to their needs and welfare.
ACT Philippines — the largest organization of teachers’ unions and associations in the country — led the teachers, education workers, and students march to raise and assert their sector’s longstanding demands.
“We have gathered not only to honor the significant role and contribution of the teaching profession in shaping our citizens but also to make known to the Marcos-Duterte government the plight of teachers,” ACT Chairperson Vladimer Quetua said in Filipino.
“We want to voice our long-standing call for a livable salary, fair and adequate benefits, decent and humane working conditions, as well as recognition and respect for our right to unionize and organize,” he added.
ACT also presented its 7 World Teachers’ Day demands for teachers and education workers' which include increasing their salaries, improving their benefits, addressing perennial education shortages for learning recovery, rechanneling confidential and intelligence funds to education and basic social services, fully funding the free college education program, upholding their right to freedom of association, and junking the K to 12 curriculum and conduct nationwide evidence-based learning assessment and genuine consultation with all stakeholders.
“We call on the Philippine government to immediately act on our seven-point demands that will benefit not only our teachers but the entire education sector and even our society in general,” Quetua said.
Uplift the dignity of teachers
TDC, for its part, urged the government to “reciprocate” the sincerity of students and other stakeholders in this year’s celebration of WTD.
“We hope that the same sincerity is reciprocated by our leaders in the agency and elected officials,” TDC said in a statement issued in Filipino.
“But we know this is also the time for empty greetings and promises that have been repeated over and over again,” the group added.
As the country celebrates WTD, the group urged the government to enforce the mandate of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers and provide protection for teachers who are victims of “harassment and extortion” due to child protection policy; reform the policies of Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
TDC is also pushing for the provision of “just salaries and benefits” for teachers and the elimination of clerical tasks that consume teachers' time and energy.
The group is also calling for the provision of greater opportunities for teachers to grow in their profession and recognize their right to organize and representation.
“Moreover, we should also pay attention to larger national issues affecting education,” TDC said.
The group said these challenges can be addressed by allocating enough funds to education, health, and other social services.
TDC underscored the importance of the active participation of each teacher in the “fight for their rights, welfare, and dignity.”
“We have no one else to rely on to guard and protect our rights but ourselves,” TDC said. “This is the challenge to each one of us,” it added.