Nowadays, the indication of fast shifting globalization affects socio-economic development of country. Transformational education challenges the process to develop the needs of individual towards integration in a cohesive Philippine society. Proper education commands success. In a highly relational culture such as ours, the key maybe to use own social bonds and rouse the emotions of our educators by energizing them., unleashing their creativity/thinking and putting their collaborative spirit to work. It enables others to act, model the way and encourage the heart in a shared vision.
As Albert Einstein articulated “Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for those only gave life, those the art of living well”. Teachers are not only persons who teach academics but those are persons who taught lives. They have a vital role on developing one owns aptitude and skills, so they have the right to pay for them heroisms. But unfortunately, some overworked public teachers in the Philippines are underpaid.
The budget of Department of Education is P292.7B. House bill 4081 filed by Magdalo party-list Representatives Francisco Ashley Acedillo and Gary Alejano seeks to upgrade the salary grade level of teachers in public elementary and secondary schools from the present Salary grade (SG) 11 to SG 20. Public school educators have a minimum salary of P18, 549 this is under Salary Standardization Law. Meanwhile Government employees under SG 20 have a basic monthly rate of P36, 567. Lawmakers want to upgrade the teacher’s salary in accordance with their qualifications and length of service.
Paragraph 5 under Section 5 of Article 6 provides that “the state shall assign the highest budgetary to education and ensure that teaching will attract and retain its rightful share of the best available talents through adequate remuneration and other means of job satisfaction and fulfillment”. But even this provision, the lawmaker said public school teachers remain inadequately compensated to their hard work.
Last June 2, 2014 (Monday opening classes for school year 2014-2015) in Manila, there are protesters mostly public school teachers who demand for salary increase. The protest are formed of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines together with students groups that included Kabataan party-list, National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), League of Filipino students and Anakbayan. They are all want to press the Department of Education and the present administration to immediately enact a law increasing the wage of public school teachers and employees.
By: Gina M. Manrique | Teacher III | Limay National High School | Limay, Bataan
