THE Catholic Education Association of the Philippines on Tuesday rejected the Department of Education’s proposal to accept teachers who did not pass the Licensure Examination for Teachers in order to achieve their hiring quota of 50,000 teachers for public schools.
“Can you imagine where they will be getting their teachers? I can already foresee an exodus of our best and brightest moving to greener pastures,” said CEAP president Jun Erguiza.
Erguiza expressed concern for the private sector’s hired teachers, saying the public sector’s need to hire 50,000 teachers would entice teachers in the private sector to move to public schools because of better pay.
“A corollary concern to teacher education and formation is the proclivity of the government to employ ‘the best and the brightest’ from the private sectors’ pool of resources,” said Erguiza.
In 2014, CEAP requested subsidies from the government in order to help keep their schools afloat, especially after the implementation of the K-12 program. However, Erguiza said their request remains unanswered.
“Private education in the Philippines should be supported in terms of additional slots for scholarship, teachers’ salary, and other funding that will prevent our schools from dying just because the government is focusing on the development of state universities (SUs) and other public schools,” said CEAP vice president Fr. Joel Tabora.
The CEAP is an umbrella organization comprising more than 100 private and Catholic schools, college and universities across the country.
It was commissioned to promote the teaching function of the Catholic Church and religious instruction as an essential element of Catholic education.