Briones expects teachers to raise quality of education after pay hike assurance

Education Secretary Secretary Leonor Briones said her department is expecting teachers to improve the quality of education in the country in light of their impending salaries increases.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of Education (DepEd) said teachers can look forward to a salary increase following the completion of the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) study on it.

“But the good news comes with a challenge. As we increase the salaries and improve the terms of employment of our public school teachers, we expect our teachers to be the driving force to raise the quality of the country’s basic education,” Briones said.

At a press conference in Davao City upon his arrival from Russia, Duterte said they are discussing about increasing the salaries of teachers by 35% or more. 

Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) national chairperson Joselyn Martinez on Monday said a 35% increase is not enough to allow educators to have a decent living and dignify their profession. 

“It certainly will not placate teachers who have been reasonably restless in the demand for the Duterte administration to grant us a 30K basic pay," Martinez said.

ACT noted that the only proof of a coming pay hike is the House-approved 2020 budget that allotted P31 billion for the salary increase of over 1.5 million government employees, which translates to a raise of no more than P2,000 per month.

DepEd said it should be emphasized that between the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) III from 2009 to 2012 and the SSL IV from 2016 to 2019, the monthly basic salary of a Teacher I has increased from P14,198 to P20,754.

The department also highlighted the following allowances that teachers have been receiving:

• cash allowance amounting toP3,500 per year
• Proportional Vacation Pay of up to over P38,000 for school year 2018-2019
• hardship allowance which is 15-25% of monthly basic salary
• honoraria for teaching overload that is 25% of monthly basic salary
• ·         additional incentives/allowance from LGUs

Briones reminded its personnel, “There is so much work to be done. The fight for quality will require no less than a national effort, with our teachers at the forefront,” Briones said. —Joviland Rita/KBK, GMA News