Teachers expressed hope that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will outline specific plans for them and the education sector when he delivers his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday afternoon, July 24. (JOJO RINOZA  / FILE PHOTO  / MANILA BULLETIN)
In a statement, Teachers' Dignity Coalition (TDC) Benjo Basas said that teachers felt “disappointed” by the president's last SONA. “Last year his speech was generic, we have yet to see a plan, and we have also seen this in the performance of his government this past year in terms of education,” Basas said. During his first SONA, Basas said that the education sector was only “briefly mentioned” and there were “no concrete measures” for the welfare of teachers or learners. Marcos, he added, also spoke about several topics --- including improving training programs for teachers, reviewing the K to 12 curriculum, promoting full face–to–face classes for the school year 2022–2023, enhancing instructional materials, and providing students and schools access to the internet and electronic devices. “Although the K-12 curriculum is currently being reviewed and physical classes were pushed through last year, the so-called internet and electronic devices for students remain nothing more than a dream,” Basas said. Learners in public schools, he added, “continue to suffer from poor education materials” while the “so-called teacher training still does not reach the grassroots.” Despite this, TDC recognizes the acknowledgment made by Vice President and DepEd Secretary Sara Duterte during the Basic Education Report (BER) last January that the education sector is “challenged by many problems.” Basas stressed that while a m”ere admission will not resolve our decades-long crisis,” he noted that this “may lead to a more realistic approach to fixing these recurring problems.”