Clamor for teachers’ salary increase

Arleen D. Ayson

THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has called on officials and members of teachers’groups to help the government improve the delivery of education to the Filipino learners.

This is amid the onslaught on the education sector’s commitment to promoting the welfare of its workforce.

DILG Secretary Eduardo Año expressed his trust in “the sincerity and commitment of President Rodrigo Duterte and the Department of Education (DepEd) in addressing the clamor of public school teachers for a wage hike.”

According to the DILG official, the present administration “recognizes the contribution of our teachers as stewards of our youth’s future as much as we take cognizance of the hard work of our uniformed sector in protecting and securing our communities.”

He also explained the need to prioritize the salaries of policemen and uniformed personnel who were not part of the last salary standardization program as they lead “the war against criminality, illegal drugs, communist insurgency and other threats to peace and order and national security.”

Given the huge number of our public school teachers now at 830,000 (as opposed to only 170,000 police officers), a teachers’pay hike is not easy and needs careful consideration because of its huge financial impact on the Filipino taxpayer, Año said.

The DILG chief also emphasized that the President recognizes the teachers’ noble service to the country.

He said the President has spoken and the administration is committed to deliver a pay hike to public school teachers but it cannot be done overnight.

He said the Cabinet is now studying and looking for potential fund sources for the salary increase as directed by the President.

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The author is Teacher II at Mitla Elementary School, Model Community,

Pio, Porac, Pampanga