A PARTY-list lawmaker on Friday sought the creation of more teacher items in 2019, noting the proposed number of items announced by the Department of Budget and Management on Wednesday was lower than those created under the 2018 budget.
At the same time, ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro pushed for more funds for the promotion of teachers now employed in public schools and rehiring of more non-teaching and support personnel for public schools.
“We ask [Budget] Secretary [Benjamin] Diokno why he allowed the creation of fewer teacher positions than allotted for the current year, which is 81,100. Student enrollment is not decreasing and the administrative and support operations in schools are not getting easier,” Castro said.
She said: “We also remind the budget chief that the public education system is catching up with the decades-long sluggish creation of teacher items.
“Plus, the government recently forced the addition of three years in basic education: kindergarten and two years for senior high school. Rather than slackening off, the DBM should step up and propose to Congress funds for more new teachers, not less.”
She added the new items should not only be for entry-level posts but also for Teacher II and Teacher III and SPED Teachers I to IV.
Castro said in the creation of items, the DBM should also consider the specialization of teachers and needs of the school.
Funds for promotion to Master Teachers I to IV should also be increased, as the DBM proposed, and Congress approved, for 2018 enough funds for the promotion of 344 Master Teachers only, she added.
“This will enable the promotion of more teachers, and encourage excellence in teaching by showing that career progression is possible under the DepEd,” she said.
Castro also reiterated her call for more funds for the creation of items for non-teaching personnel and support staff members. Maricel V. Cruz
Citing 2017 DepEd data, she said of the 687,229 teachers and 38,284 non-teaching personnel and support staff members, there is just one person to support 18 teachers in all the operations of public schools nationwide.
She said: “One of the effects of this severe understaffing is that a teacher is given additional tasks which should be done by other staff members. Ma’am or Sir is not only a teacher—she or he is, at the same time, the nurse, librarian, guidance counselor, data encoder, property custodian, carpenter, janitor, security guard, et cetera.
“The long list goes on, making the teacher the overworked, and even unpaid, jack of all trade.”