Sara tells teachers on National Teachers’ Month: Bilib ako sa tibay ng puso ninyo

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Tuesday commended teachers for their sacrifices and hard work to provide education to the youth, may it be in-person or online.

Appearing in a video recording at a kick-off event for National Teachers' Month, Duterte said that teachers reflect the strength and heart of the nation, as they find ways to deliver modules, help facilitate community learning hubs, and provide additional learning resources to children despite the challenges faced by the education sector due to the pandemic.

“Our teachers deserve respect and admiration for their undying dedication to guiding and helping our learners, parents, and guardians when the whole world had to shift to home learning drastically because of the pandemic,” she said.

“At nang buksan natin muli ang ating mga paaralan para sa in-person learning, muling nanguna ang mga guro para masigurado na magtatagumpay ang ating mga hakbang. Hindi ninyo inalintana ang pagod, ang hirap, ang kritisismo, at pati ang takot na patuloy na dala ng pandemya. Bilib ako sa tibay ng puso ninyo,” she added.

(When we reopened our schools for in-person learning, teachers once again led to ensure that our efforts were successful. You did not care about the fatigue, the hardships, the criticisms, and even the fear brought by the pandemic. I am impressed by your hearts’ strength.)

Among the challenges faced by several schools as classes for School Year 2022-2023, which began on August 22, were the lack of teachers and the shortage of classrooms.

Also, teachers have repeated their calls to increase their salaries, with those serving as Teacher I only getting a salary of P25,439 per month.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines on Monday urged Congress to prioritize an upgrade in the pay of entry-level public school teachers to Salary Grade 15 or P30,000 per month.

Duterte said that the DepEd will try to address the teachers’ concerns.

“Ang Kagawaran ay magsusumikap sa pagtuon sa mga hinaing at mga pangangailangan ng ating mga guro. Pagmamahal, respeto, at suporta—ang mga iyan po ang dapat nating ibigay at ipakita sa ating mga Pilipinong guro, ang dangal ng sambayanang Pilipino,” she said.

(The Department will work hard to focus on the grievances and needs of our teachers. Love, respect, and support—these are what we should give and show to our Filipino teachers, the pride of the Filipinos.)

DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa earlier said that the agency will focus on studying possible more non-financial benefits to teachers amid the calls for salary increase.

He also said that Duterte is also planning to upskill the teachers and ease their administrative work. To do so, DepEd is eyeing to hire more non-teaching staff to help the teachers with their tasks, he added. — BM, GMA News