Bill seeks hike in public school teachers' pay

MANILA, Philippines - To prevent the exodus of public and private school teachers abroad, a bill has been filed in the House of Representatives increasing their salaries to P20,000. House Bill 1794 aims to motivate teachers to stay in their professions and encourage young education students to stay in their profession. "The exodus to the United States, Australia and even China of Filipino public and private teachers, considered as the best teachers in Math, English and Science, aggravates our educational dilemma," author Rep. Emil Ong (Northern Samar) said in an article on the House of Representatives website. At present, Ong said the basic monthly pay of a public school teacher is P12,026. Ong proposed to enhance the terms of employment of teachers, including salaries and benefits, as well as professional and personal development. "It would go a long way in making teachers practice their profession in the country and likewise motivate good public knowledge-shapers to continue teaching and encourage young education students to become mentors as well," he said. Ong also said the shortage of some 20,000 qualified mentors across the country every school year aggravates the problem of poor performance among public school students. "Only one out of every 100 public elementary school graduates qualifies to enter high school," he said. He added that only 19 percent or less than 10,000 of the 51,000 teachers who took the self-assessment test for English scored 75 percent or better.- GMANews.TV