Teachers lament worsening education system

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s education system has worsened under the present administration, teachers’ organizations lamented yesterday.

Members of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) held an early morning protest along Mendiola to call out the government for its failure to address the shortages and what it described as the “worsening education crisis.”

Teachers scored Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte’s recent order to leave classroom walls bare, saying instructional aids help students in the learning process.

They also questioned the proposed confidential funds for the Department of Education (DepEd).

“We need higher education budget, more classrooms, teachers, education support personnel, functional facilities and sufficient instructional and learning materials. We need to increase teachers’ basic pay to decent and living salaries. We do not need confidential and intelligence funds at all,” ACT chairman Vladimer Quetua said.

For the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC), the dire situation of teachers has remained the same for decades.

“There may be changes to the curriculum or even to the physical condition of our classrooms and schools, but the condition of the teachers is the most important and should be given priority. Our teachers are still overburdened with redundant clerical work that gets worse every day. Class sizes can reach as high as 50 to 55, and yet we expect our teachers to teach better,” TDC chairman Benjo Basas said in a separate statement.

The group challenged President Marcos to fulfill his campaign promise to increase the salary of public school teachers.

“As a senator, he was consistent in filing a bill to raise teacher pay during the 15th and 16th Congress. Now that he is President, he has all the power and influence he needs to make it happen and not just keep it as a campaign promise,” Basas said.

“Children’s welfare is always at the center of discussions whenever the classes open, that’s understood. But this time, those in authority should also consider the welfare of teachers and give it the attention it highly deserves. How could we safeguard the well-being of these children if their teachers’ welfare is uncertain?” he added.

Hiring program

As classes in public schools opened yesterday, a lawmaker called for the “urgent hiring” of teachers and education support personnel.

ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro made a round of some public schools and observed the “glaring lack of teachers and education support personnel.”

Castro said there is also an “urgent need” for additional personnel such as nurses and guidance counselors.

“The lack of teachers and education support personnel is a critical issue that needs to be addressed immediately. It directly affects the quality of education and support services that our students receive,” she added.

The lawmaker stressed that students could not be expected to “thrive and succeed without sufficient personnel to guide and support their learning journey.”

It is also important to have an adequate number of teachers to ensure “manageable class sizes and effective instruction,” according to Castro.

She also pointed out the need for more nurses and guidance counselors to provide the necessary health and emotional support to students.

“Our students deserve to have a conducive learning environment, and this includes having enough teachers and support personnel to cater to their needs,” she said.

Castro has called on the DepEd to urgently address the shortage of teachers and education support personnel by implementing a “comprehensive hiring program.”

“We need a systematic and strategic approach to address the lack of teachers and education support personnel in our public schools. It is high time that we prioritize the needs of our students and invest in their future,” she maintained.

‘Innovation solutions’

Amid all these concerns, Duterte sees a different approach to address the perennial problems in the country’s basic education system.

Speaking at Kaluangan I Primary School in Asturias, Cebu yesterday, the Vice President said the DepEd under the second Marcos administration is pursuing two tracks in addressing problems such as the shortage of teachers and classrooms.

“Since time immemorial, we saw that we approach our problems using the same solutions,” she said in English and Filipino.

“We have a problem with teachers, so we hire more teachers, we look for more teachers. And yet, we still cannot address our needs for teachers,” she added.

The two-track approach, she said, would introduce “innovative” solutions on top of the more traditional approaches that have been adopted by previous administrations.

For instance, in the case of teacher and classroom shortages, Duterte reiterated her previous proposal of institutionalizing blended learning.

“We can easily solve the shortages in classrooms, teachers and congestion in our classrooms with the blended learning program,” she said.

“We hope to be able to institute and implement reforms during the administration of President Marcos, and we hope that there will be improvements in the performance of our learners,” she added.

The Vice President visited the Cebu school for the opening of classes. She led the inauguration of the new building for what DepEd described as a “last-mile” school or those in the farthest communities in the country.

Duterte likewise cited the rise of artificial intelligence, which she said could change how the education system would look like in the future.

The DepEd has yet to release the implementation guidelines for the institutionalized blended learning, with the latest policy mandating that face-to-face classes shall remain the primary learning delivery modality in all schools as it is “crucial role in enabling in-depth and real-time teacher-learner interaction.”

Officials earlier said the new curriculum, which will be piloted in select schools this school year, may be adopted to blended learning modality if necessary, but its initial rollout will focus on face-to-face setup.

It was Duterte who mandated the full implementation of face-to-face classes last school year, after two years of blended learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, she cited the learning losses and the need to improve student performance.

Private schools are still allowed to implement blended or full online learning. Public schools need to obtain permission from the DepEd before they can utilize blended learning modality to address congestion.

Orderly, peaceful

The DepEd has not reported any untoward incident related to the opening of classes.

In Metro Manila, DepEd Assistant Secretary Francis Cesar Bringas visited the 14 public schools that are at the center of the feud between the local governments of Makati and Taguig.

Bringas said the opening of classes in the said schools were orderly and peaceful.

The DepEd reported that as of 9 a.m. yesterday, 22,917,725 students are enrolled in public and private kindergarten, elementary and high schools.

While lower than last school year’s 28.8 million, education officials said they expect the number to increase in the coming days, noting that there are always late enrollees every school year.

Bringas also noted class suspensions in areas experiencing heavy rainfall due to Typhoon Goring and the enhanced southwest monsoon.

To address congestion, particularly in Metro Manila, he confirmed that there are schools that would implement blended learning and as many as three shifts.

Echoing Duterte, Bringas said they looking into the problem of shortage of facilities, saying they are going to “redefine” learning spaces, in reference to the plan to institutionalize blended learning and alternative delivery modes.

Learning, he said, is no longer limited to the four walls of the classroom. —Ramon Efren Lazaro, Emmanuel Tupas, Artemio Dumlao