The government will hire 234,542 teachers and allied health professionals to build up public schools and improve the delivery of medical services, an opposition lawmaker said Sunday.
“We are releasing these figures to help graduating high school students as well as first- and second-year college students decide on what courses they may take or shift to, if they are considering future employability in the public sector as a factor,” House deputy minority leader Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr. said.
He said the Department of Education is set to hire a total of 181,980 teachers starting this year until 2020.
Also beginning this year until 2022, the Department of Health will recruit 52,562 health practitioners, 39,466 nurses, 3,288 pharmacists, 2,862 medical technologists, 2,497 universal health-care implementers, 2,424 physicians, 1,114 dentists and 911 public health associates.
“The fastest-growing profession in the years ahead will be teaching as DepEd steps up hiring to cope with the demands of a rapidly expanding public school system. The need for math and science teachers in particular will be exceptionally strong,” he said.
In 2017 alone, DepEd is spending P15.5 billion to fill up 53,831 new teaching positions.
Excluding benefits and allowances, classroom teachers in public schools now receive a monthly salary ranging from P19,077 for entry-level Teacher I to P39,768 for Master Teacher III.
Pay rates will increase every year until they reach P20,754 for Teacher I and P51,155 for Master Teacher III starting Jan. 1, 2019, Campos said.
