A group of education workers on Thursday, July 4, urged Senator and incoming Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara to hold dialogues with various groups and other stakeholders to discuss the concerns of teachers, especially on pay hikes and other issues hounding the country’s basic education sector.
“We appreciate Senator Angara’s recognition of the need to uplift the salaries of our teachers citing its positive effect on the quality of education delivery and we hope that his support translates into action,” said Alliance of Education (ACT) Philippines Secretary-General Raymond Basilio said in a statement.
This was after Angara expressed full support for the proposed salary increase for public school teachers and government employees.
“We call on Sen. Angara to work with us and engage in thorough consultations to secure a significant salary increase for teachers—an approach that was neglected by his predecessor during her two-year term as DepEd secretary,” Basilio said, noting that the incoming DepEd chief should conduct dialogues and consultations with its accredited unions to discuss its demands for substantial salary increase.
“We have long called for a salary increase that will close the gap between teachers’ salaries and the cost of living and correct the distortion in the government salary scheme where teacher’s pay lag behind those of other professions with the same qualifications,” Basilio added.
ACT is pushing for P50,000 entry-level pay for teachers and P33,000 for Salary Grade (SG) 1 employees.
“As the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, we have seen his legislative efforts to propose substantial salary hikes for teachers and government employees, and we hope that he brings the same vigor in his new role to push for our salary and education demands,” Basilio added.
The group also urged Angara to “take bold actions” in pushing for the doubling of the education budget to address the massive shortages and backlogs in basic education needs, reviewing and overhauling the curriculum, and ensuring the protection of labor and democratic rights of teachers and education workers.
Aside from tackling the issue of salary increase, ACT urged Angara to have democratic consultations with education stakeholders to know more about their concerns and demands.
In his first days after assuming office, ACT said Angara should halt the pilot-testing of the MATATAG curriculum, especially since the Education Commission II is yet to finalize its assessment of and recommendations for the education system.
“In the implementation of the MATATAG curriculum, our students, once again, are treated like guinea pigs in an experiment which is not grounded on a comprehensive assessment and did not undergo democratic consultations, not to mention lacking necessary preparation such as adequate teacher training and provision of needed materials,” ACT said.
Angara was also urged to scrap the Results-based Performance Management System (RPMS) in DepEd and halt the order for the submission of the Individual Performance Commitment and Review form, which only proved to be “burdensome for teachers with no help to improving the quality of teaching.”
Moreover, ACT asked Angara to issue an order “prohibiting the practice of red-tagging” in schools and the whole department, based on the Supreme Court’s decision citing that “red-tagging threatens the right to life, liberty, and security.”
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