Ahead of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.'s third State of the Nation Address (SONA), a teachers' group insists that more needs to be done to address the challenges in the education sector.
Over the past year, significant strides have been made, including improved working conditions for teachers and the addition of new school facilities.
Despite these efforts, Apollo Sebello, President of the Department of Education (DepEd) Naga City Teachers’ and Employees’ Union, said many issues remain unresolved.
“Ang gusto ko lang na madangog sa satuya pong President sa saiyang pag SONA ‘yan na siguro itong hinahagad kan mga paratukdo, itong eksakto na sasabihon niya na magkakaigwa nin salary increase,” Sebello said.
As of this writing, teachers earn a monthly salary of around P27,000 under Salary Grade 11, which, according to Sebello, does not keep up with the rising cost of living.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is now reviewing the request for a salary increase.
Data from DepEd Bicol show that there will be around 69,611 teachers for the 2024-2025 school year, distributed as follows:
- Elementary: 39,242
- Junior High School: 21,419
- Senior High School: 8,742
- Alternative Learning System (ALS): 2,918
Despite this number, there are still schools facing teacher shortages. Additionally, over 4,000 classrooms in the region remain unrepaired from past calamities.
Schools like Julian B. Meliton Elementary School in Naga City and a school in Minalabac, Camarines Sur, continue to operate with damaged facilities, leading to crowded and inadequate learning environments.
“Crowded na po sa kada room siguro nasa 40 plus po ang section po, pag mainit po ang panahon syempre si mga aki lalong magkakairinitan,” Jane Lopez, a parent, said.
Gilbert Sadsad, Regional Director of DepEd Bicol, said efforts are being made to repair classrooms.
“In 2019 and 2020 meron tayong na-repair na 1,019… 2021 [is] 1,000 also, kaya nababawasan na rin kahit papano,” Sadsad said.
For 2024, P33.8 billion of DepEd's P758.6 billion budget is allocated for constructing and repairing classrooms. However, the Philippines continues to struggle with poor ratings in reading comprehension, mathematics, and science, as highlighted by the 2018 and 2020 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results.
As the new school year begins on July 29, 2024 there are still no learning resources for the full implementation of the new MATATAG curriculum.
Teachers, parents, and students hope that under DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara, these promises will turn into concrete actions and not remain unfulfilled.
