ACT gives government ‘failing grade’ in addressing education woes

MANILA, Philippines — If the government were its student, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) would give it a “failing grade” for not being able to address critical issues hounding the country’s education sector.

Assessing the first year of the Marcos administration, ACT secretary-general Raymond Basilio yesterday said the government failed to prioritize or give urgent action to any of the 10-point challenge issued by teachers and education workers last year.

“In his first year in office, we saw Marcos Jr.’s extreme neglect and lack of action to address the crisis in education and economy,” Basilio said in Filipino.

“This was matched by the dismissal of the calls from teachers and other sectors by Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, who is more focused on red-tagging as co-vice chair of the NTF-ELCAC,” he added, referring to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

Last year, the ACT identified 10 demands to the then incoming administration of Marcos and Duterte. These include doubling the education budget, reopening the schools safely, implementing evidence-based recovery program, providing sufficient learning resources, overhauling the K-12 system and restoring Philippine History in high school and wika (language) and panitikan (literature) in college.

The other five demands included upgrading the salary of teachers and education workers, hiring more education support personnel, improving education workers’ benefits, enacting a Magna Carta for private school teachers and upholding academic freedom and union rights.

The government has not prioritized the ACT’s first five demands, abandoned the next four and gravely violated the last one, according to the group.

While the Department of Education (DepEd) under Duterte pushed for the full reopening of schools last year, the ACT noted the gaps in ensuring the safety of students and teachers.

It also repeatedly criticized the government over its failure to address the lack of teachers, non-teaching staff and education facilities.

Last January, Duterte presented her Basic Education Report, where she identified key challenges and her agency’s plans for the education sector.

Basilio maintained that their assessment of the government has concrete basis, as he noted the lack of budget for the education sector.

“It is clear that it was not given priority last year. Teachers and other workers were abandoned, as seen in the lack of action on our call for salary increase, especially with the worsening economic crisis,” he said in Filipino.

“The promise made during the elections that the salary of teachers would be increased remains unfulfilled. We also have a record-breaking delay in the release of the 2021 PBB (Performance-Based Bonus) of our teachers. There is no development in the legislation for the Magna Carta for private school teachers,” he added.