Zambales solon wants wage hike for public school teachers BY RAECHELLE ANN GARCIA SUBIC, ZAMBALES – Zambales 1st district Rep. Jeffrey Khonghun recently signed House Bill 245 which aimed to raise the meager minimum monthly salary of school teachers and non-teaching personnel in both public elementary and secondary schools. Khonghun said that the proposed salary increase for teachers was relevantly part of his Edukasyon Tungo sa Kaunlaran Program to alleviate the living standards of public school mentors. “We have to build a strong educational foundation for our children whom our teachers play the most important role,” Khonghun said. Khonghun said that there has been a “brain-drain” which forced good and efficient public school teachers to work as either domestic helpers or caregivers in other countries offering much higher wages. Efforts of the government to upgrade the educational system cannot succeed as long as teachers and education workers are not given decent salaries, he said. House Bill 245 was first introduced by Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) to increase the minimum monthly salaries of public school teachers to P25,000 and non-teaching personnel to P15,000. The Bill cited that under the Philippine Constitution, the State “shall assign the highest budgetary priority to education and ensure that teaching will attract and retain its rightful share of the best available talents through adequate remuneration and other means of job satisfaction and fulfillment. However, the current pay scheme of government failed to meet the mandated criteria set under Republic Act 4670, otherwise known as the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers. Comparative study showed that teachers’ pay does not compare favorably with those employed as call center agents. The salary for call center employment, which requires neither formal education not bachelor’s degree, ranges from P15,000 to P25,000 a month. According to ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio L. Tinio, the salaries of public school teachers are currently unable to “insure a reasonable standard of life for themselves and their families.” “The family living wage in the National Capital Region, estimated at P957 per day or more than P21, 054 per month, means that many teachers have resorted to borrowing from government financial institutions such as the GSIS, private lending firms, or even loan sharks in order to cope with this “living salary gap,” Tinio said. Likewise, House Bill 245 wanted the present minimum salaries of non-teaching personnel in the elementary and secondary schools to be raised from P9,000 to P15,000 per month while salaries occupying higher positions will be adjusted accordingly. PHOTO. WAGE HIKE FOR TEACHERS. File photo shows Zambales 1st district Rep. Jeffrey Khonghun who signed House Bill 245 to increase salary of public school teachers.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 17:17:57 +0000
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