Prioritize teachers' wage hike, urges Angara

Senator Edgardo J. Angara today pushes for the prioritization of teachers' wages and benefits in crafting the 2009 General Appropriations Act, saying that investing on our teachers would boost reforms in our educational system.

"Of all government employees, the teachers have lagged behind in salaries, incentives and training by judges, fiscals, firemen and employees of government financial institutions," said Angara, who has been a staunch advocate of education reforms.

He added, "The low salaries received by our public school teachers have been a major disincentive for them to improve their skills in teaching and pursue further education and training. If we aspire to improve the quality of education in our country, we must motivate our teachers, re-train and reward them for their efforts."

Angara filed a bill seeking to upgrade the minimum salary grade level of public school teachers from grade 10 to 19. However, the increase will depend on the qualifications as well as the length of service rendered.

"In effect, this will spell a P6, 000 increase from the basic salary of public school teachers, barely amounting to P10, 000," said Angara.

By providing attractive incentives, Senator Angara believes that the exodus of public school teachers, which drains the educational system, would be sufficiently addressed.

From 1992-2001, more than 3,000 teachers have left the country for overseas jobs and majority of them has found employment in schools and universities in the United States.

With more teachers wanting to work abroad, global competitiveness of students is at risk. Now ranking 77 out 117 countries, it has continuously declined by twenty-eight notches in the span of six years.

"One cannot blame them for wanting to work abroad for substantially higher wages. However, this salary upgrade will attract qualified and competent teachers to teach in public schools," he said.

Apart from addressing the outflow of teachers, Senator Angara also believes that drastic measures have to be made to train remaining teachers.

"Teachers have the biggest impact on student learning. In a teacher's professional career spanning 30 years or so, he/she would have taught about 2,000 pupils, or several generations of students. Educational reform must focus on the way teachers are trained, recruited and deployed, and should improve the incentive structures that encourage new graduates into the profession. The aim should be to produce teachers who have subject mastery, and receive competitive remuneration," he said.

He added, "Teacher development is the best investment our government can make in resuscitating our basic educational system."