Press Release
June 17, 2010

ANGARA CALLS FOR HIGHER SALARY GRADE FOR TEACHERS

Senator Edgardo J. Angara, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, has proposed to raise the salary grade of teachers to SG13, which will increase teachers salary to Php21,293 - up by 77% from the current salary level. Angara said this will be key to making the country's educational system competitive.

"By failing to provide attractive compensation, we are unable to recruit qualified, competent teachers. Often, we lose those already in service. This degrades the quality of education we offer our youth. We have to pull the plug on mediocrity in our bureaucracy, starting with our education system," said Angara, Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance.

He added, "Its impact in education is even greater and far-reaching. Our education is only as good as our teachers. In public schools, we see unqualified teachers repeat formulas and equations from textbooks to perplexed, if not disinterested students. This lack of credentials in many public school teachers has led to a decreasing quality of education in our schools, and as a consequence, the waning competitiveness of our students."

A 2006 study conducted by the Civil Service Commission revealed a huge gap in the salaries of public sector employees and their counterparts in the private sector. Government professional and technical personnel earn 40% less than those employed in the private sector; this disparity is even greater at the senior manager level, where the difference is as high as 74%.

Angara added that in contrast Filipino teachers who migrate abroad receive ten times the salary they get in the country. "This has led to the exodus of our best teachers to greener pastures abroad, and those left to teach our children are often inexperienced and unqualified," said Angara.

Angara, former President of the University of the Philippines, has been at the forefront of education reform in the country, authoring laws like the Free High School Act, Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE), and the laws creating the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

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