Teachers’ group calls on gov’t to give better support to teachers

Before the celebration of World Teachers’ Day on October 5, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) once again repeated its call for better support to teachers and the education sector from the government.

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Teachers’ group says hiring 10,000 teachers not enough

The organization which campaigns for economic and political rights of teachers wants a higher pay for entry-level teachers as their current salary is not enough to support teachers’ families.

This National Teachers' Month, we call on the Marcos administration to finally remedy this injustice against teachers. Mr. Marcos clearly promised during his electoral campaign that he will increase teachers' salaries once elected to office. We challenge him to just do as he promised and spare us of the alibis that his officials are spewing to deny us of our long overdue pay hike,

ACT spokesperson Ruby Bernardo said.

Maximo Montero, a teacher from Region 6 (Western Visayas) said some teachers choose to work abroad to better support their families.

He also added that the allocation for the Department of Education (DepEd) in the National Expenditure Plan for 2023 does not include more benefits to teachers.

Teachers also called out the DepEd for increasing the size of classes, requiring them to spend more time on paperwork and reports and prepare their lessons.

There are teachers who are handling seven to 12 sections — can you imagine how many students they have to teach together with the activities and outputs that they have to check after class?

said Maricel Herrera, a teacher from Region 4A (Calabarzon).

She added that on top of non-teaching loads, the two hours allotted to prepare for lessons and visual aids is not enough, as some teachers need to extend their workday until evening.

ACT asked the DepEd to conduct a comprehensive national assessment for learners to identify the gaps that need to be resolved through a proper learning recovery plan.

Earlier, the DepEd said it is developing a work balancing tool to manage teachers' workload and eventually transfer their administrative duties to non-teaching staffs.