A Call To Respect and Uphold The Dignity Of Public School Teachers

Privilege Speech of Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Luzviminda C. Ilagan on 15 September 2008.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to the attention of our colleagues a matter very close to my heart as an educator and as a representative of Gabriela Women's Party.

This is a call to respect and uphold the dignity of public school teachers.

Last August 28, 58-year-old Erlinda Leuterio, a former Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila professor, was killed in a road accident in Maryland, United States of America. She had just arrived in the US barely a week before and had reported only once as a Special Education teacher at the High Bridge Elementary School in Bowie, Maryland.

Leuterio’s untimely demise is a tragic affair and this representation commiserates with her family whom she unwillingly left behind in search of a better life abroad.

But a more saddening and alarming realities unfolded with this beloved wife, mother and teacher’s death.

Leuterio, who had three masteral degrees – a Masters of Special Education (specializing in communication disorder), Masters of Education Major in Filipino, and a Masters of Education Major in English – was part of a batch of 93 Filipino teachers who went to the US last August and hired by American public schools to teach special education classes, focusing on Mathematics, Science and English. The new recruits followed a group of 115 teachers who had gone last July, and more are expected as Maryland and other states like North Carolina, Virginia and Kansas. to import additional teachers from other countries to fill its shortage.

An average of 221 teachers have gone to the US from 2000 to 2004. They now comprise some of the more than 10,000 foreign teachers being recruited annually to fill the gaping demand for teachers in the United States and in all corners of the world.

Data from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration show that annually, 1,666 Filipino teachers leave for Africa, Europe, Asia and in the islands of the South Pacific. They also teach in schools in oil-rich countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Brunei. Other teachers have opted to work as domestic help in Saudi, Hongkong or Singapore.

This migration of experienced and qualified teachers has dire consequences on our country’s educational system.

At present, the Philippines has the worst pupil-teacher ratio in Asia at 45:1, with the universal standard pegged at 25:1. According to an assessment report by Education for All in 2000, at the elementary level, Japan has the lowest pupil-teacher ratio at less than 20:1, followed by Malaysia and Thailand, at 21:1 and 21.5:1, respectively.

At the lower secondary level, the Philippines still has the highest student-teacher ratio at 45:1, while Laos is the closest at 31 is to 1. Japan and Indonesia have the lowest ratio (17:1), followed by China (17.6:1).

According to the Alliance of Concerned Teachers in the Philippines, the country is experiencing a shortage of 39,763 public school teachers. Actual class sizes, particularly in highly urbanized areas, often exceed 60 students per class. Inevitably, large class sizes in basic education result in the further deterioration of the quality of education provided by public schools.

In the 2008 World Competitive Yearbook by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development, our country ranked 52nd out of the 55 countries in education.

Local public school achievement measurements also reiterated this.

Achievement rates of elementary and secondary students in the National Achievement Tests remain far below the 75 percent passing rate set by the Department of Education. The Factsheet: Basic Education Statistics issued by the DepEd revealed that in 2007, the mean percentage score of elementary school students was 54.66% for school year 2005-2006. For secondary school students, it was 44.33 percent.

Elementary school students scored an average of 53.66 percent in Mathematics, 46.77 percent in Science, 54.05 percent in English. Secondary school students scored 47.82 percent in Mathematics, 37.98 percent in Science, 47.73 percent in English.

Internationally, the Philippines belongs to the bottom five of poor achievers in Math and Science.

According to a 2003 study by the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, out of the 45 participants in the Science Achievement test at the 8th grade level (second year high school in the Philippines), the Philippines ranked 42, beating only Botswana (43), Ghana (44) and Africa (45). The top five performing countries were Singapore, Taipei, South Korea, Hong Kong and Estonia.

In the Math Achievement test, the Philippines ranked 41, again a little higher than Botswana (42), Saudi Arabia (43), Ghana (44) and South Africa (45). The top five were Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taipei and Japan.

According to the education department, 75 percent of those who graduate from public elementary schools cannot read on their own. Independent reading is one of the basic skills one would expect an elementary school graduate to have mastered already.

Even the Department of Education itself confessed that the quality of education is steadily deteriorating. Education Secretary Jesli Lapus himself said that “the quality of education in the country has sunk to its lowest level.”
Mr. Speaker, the Gabriela Women’s Party believes that the root of the problem is the government’s low priority and spending on education.

According to the Congressional Budget and Planning Office’s analysis of 2008 budget , “although the education sector gets one of the biggest share, it still lags behind the budget allocation to education of neighboring countries, which is above 20 percent.”

Per capita spending in the Philippines is about four times lower than what Malaysia and Thailand provide their students.

The analysis also points out that “the percentage share of education to total budget decreased from 15.63 percent in 2003 to 14.82 percent in 2008. The 2008 education budget was only 2.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”

UNESCO pegged the international standard at 6 percent of GDP.

The status of public school teachers has been seriously eroded in the seven years of this administration. Teachers have been impoverished by a six-year moratorium on salary increases even as the cost of living rose continuously in the same period.

Currently, teachers in the National Capital Region must contend with a “living salary gap” of P8,471 monthly. This is based on the entry-level salary of P10,933 and a family living salary wage of P19,404 as determined by the National Wages and Productivity Commission. The Alliance of Concerned Teachers reported that this small amount – P8,471 – is still subject to deductions that teachers actually take home around only P5,000.

Among professionals, teachers receive the lowest monthly salary. They are now among the ranks of the poor.

Nababansagan tuloy silang taga-London. Loan-dito,Loan-doon.

This is why a big number of teachers are attracted to the prospect of working abroad. District school district teachers in North Carolina, USA, for example, start at $32,000 or P1,440,000 annually. With 10 years’ experience and a master’s degree, a teacher earns almost $46,800 or P2,106,000 annually.

Last July 23, a ten-percent increase in salary was given to public school teachers. Starting this month, teachers categorized in the Teacher 1 position – constituting the majority - would be receiving a monthly salary of P12,026.3.

But Mr. Speaker, this is not enough.

There is an immediate need to upgrade teachers from Salary Grade 10 to Salary Grade 20 of the Salary Standardization Law. Our 479,893 teachers, some of them are here today, need a P9,000 salary increase to preserve their dignity as members of the teaching profession and bring their earnings closer to the rising cost of living.

Their plea for a higher salary has already gained support in the Senate. Last July 11, Senate Bill No. 2408 entitled “An Act Providing Additional Support and Compensation for Educators in Basic Education” was submitted to the Senate and approved to “promote the welfare and economic well-being of public school teachers, locally-funded teachers and non-teaching personnel” who are its primary beneficiaries. So far, SB 2408 has passed second reading in the Senate.

As a former school teacher and a representative of Gabriela Women’s Party, I bring to the Lower House their call, the plea of our public school teachers.

Mr. Speaker, distinguished colleagues, let us uphold our public school teachers’ dignity and status by providing higher salaries and benefits, and ensuring professional growth and improving the quality of their lives as the moulders of our young and the holders of the world’s noblest profession.

Thank you.