2_Students_of_Rafael_Palma_Elementary_School_attend_the_first_day_of_classes_for_SY_2024_2025_on_Monday_July_29_2024_28c8450e67.jpg — **Students of Rafael Palma Elementary School attend the first day of classes for SY 2024-2025 on July 29, 2024. (ARNOLD QUIZOL / MANILA BULLETIN)**

On Sept. 4, Education Secretary Sonny Angara greeted all teachers through social media, to mark the start of National Teachers' Month.

Immediately, there were reactions in the comments section. A teacher asked the Secretary to revive the five-hour cap on the daily teaching load, and the one-hour break. She also urged for a P33,000 monthly salary for public school teachers.

Another suggestion was to remove the non-teaching tasks assigned to teachers. "Yung beautification ng school grounds kay teacher parin naka angkla. Kahit yung maintenance ng classroom kay teacher parin ang sagot. Ibigay na kay school head at support staff ang mga trabaho na iyan. Instead na nakaka pag focus ang teacher sa teaching eh napupunta na ang time nya sa hindi naman related sa task nya (Beautification of the school grounds is left to the teacher to do. Even the maintenance of classroom has become the teacher's responsibility. Give those jobs to the school head and support staff. Instead of focusing on teaching, teachers spend time doing tasks unrelated to their main job)," the teacher wrote.

She suggested that the DepEd should open a “hotline” where teachers could air their complaints.

In January, the then DepEd secretary, Vice President Sara Duterte, issued a memorandum removing the administrative tasks of teachers to let them focus on teaching. The teachers' post pointed to a probability that in some schools, the DepEd order has not been implemented.

The two teachers are among the 847,000 public school teachers whose hardworking and heroic services to educate the Filipino youth, were celebrated on Oct. 5, World Teachers Day, and during National Teachers' Month, which started on Sept. 4.

The World Teachers' Day's theme for 2024 is "Valuing teacher voices: Towards a new social contract for education." "This year's celebrations emphasized the pivotal role that teachers play in shaping the future of education and the urgent need to incorporate their perspectives into educational policy and decision-making processes," states the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on its website.

Oct. 5 of every year became the World Teachers' Day starting in 1994 to celebrate three decades since the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the UNESCO held the Special Intergovernmental Conference on the Status of Teachers in Paris on October 5, 1966. Member states then adopted the UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, which has since defined the rights and obligations of educators.

Higher salary has always been part of the demands of teachers whose work extends even to personal time at home.

Five years ago, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian filed a bill to elevate the salary scale of public school teachers and make it at par with the rates in other Southeast Asian countries. He said then that while Philippine public school teachers earn $18,160 yearly, their counterparts in the ASEAN region earn an average of $27,742 a year. Gatchalian's bill has not been passed.

Another bill, seeking a P50,000 entry level salary per month for public school teachers, has been filed by the Makabayan bloc in Congress. The bill is under review.

Another issue affecting the working conditions of teachers and the learning outcomes of students is the students-to-teacher ratio in public schools. DepEd Order No. 77, series of 2010, states that the ideal student-to-teacher ratio is 25:1. In reality, averages vary from 30 students for every teacher, up to 50 or more students for one teacher in city public schools.

So far, President Marcos Jr. has taken steps to address the issues. On Aug. 2, 2024, he signed Executive Order No. 64, which increased the salaries of government employees, including teachers. He also supported reforming the career progression system for public school teachers, for which the Department of Education (DepEd) recently established two career lines: Classroom Teaching Career Line and School Administration Career Line – two career paths on which teachers can aspire for career and salary growth now exist.

Recently, President Marcos Jr. signed into law the “Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo” Act, raising state educators' yearly teaching allowance from P5,000 to P10,000, tax-free. The higher allowance will take effect in the 2025-2026 school year.

Angara recently announced the release of P26.9 billion for the salary differentials of teachers and non-teaching personnel under the Salary Standardization Law. And in addition to the increase in teaching allowances, a P7,000 medical allowance for state teachers and performance-based bonuses have been approved, reports said.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a forum of 37 democracies collaborating to set policies for sustainable development said:

"The quality of teaching and learning is determined not just by the quality of teachers, but also by the environment in which teachers work. Together with the intrinsic benefits of teaching, working conditions, which are shaped by factors such as salary range, compensation, bonuses and rewards; working time, staff-student ratios, good school leadership, infrastructure and facilities, influence teachers’ satisfaction with the workplace, their tasks and the nature of the job as well as teachers’ ability to do their work well and engage with students.

These issues are now being addressed by the Marcos Jr. Administration, budget permitting.

Shalomaigne F. Mapagu

World Teachers Day: A closer look into what’s been done to increase PH teachers’ benefits