A teachers’ group expressed support for bills that seek to grant allowance to be used by teachers to buy supplies for teaching.

The Teachers Dignity Coalition (TDC) welcomed the Teaching Supplies Allowance or “Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act” currently filed in different versions in the House and Senate.

TDC said that these proposals would institutionalize the granting of P10, 000 annual teaching supplies allowance for individual teachers to be spent on their daily teaching needs.

Currently, TDC noted that public school teachers receive a P5,000 Cash Allowance, which was previously called “Chalk Allowance.”

“It is important to note that this current amount only started to be given in the year 2021 or during the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic when teachers are in high demand for gadgets and internet connectivity,” TDC National Chairperson Benjo Basas said in a statement.

However, TDC noted that while the amount was raised to its current status, its intended expenses also expanded and “explicitly include internet and communication expenses and even the annual medical and physical examination which should be provided to teachers for free.”

While TDC welcomes these proposals, the group called for the assessment and review of previous expenses of the Department of Education (DepEd) for the P300 monthly communication expenses reimbursement from March to December 2020 which was “not released to teachers” as well as the purchase of SIM cards and prepaid phone load.

The group is also pushing for a provision of a separate fund for internet and communication expenses of not less than P1,500 per month.

Moreover, the group called for the implementation of Section 22 of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers or the free medical check-up, hospitalization, and medication for teachers.