MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Magtolis-Briones announced that they are looking at hiring as least 10,000 new teachers for this school year 2019-2020.
Briones explained that the reason why they are hiring more teachers was not due to teacher shortage but they wanted to significantly reduce class size. The agency is also keen in making sure that teachers' expertise match the subjects.
She added they are looking at a ratio of 1 teacher per 45 students for grade school while in the kindergarten, should only have 25 students per class.
Briones said the entry-level salary of teachers will be around P20,000. She reiterated that aside from the compensation, public school teachers enjoy many benefits.
The basic salary of Grade 1 teachers is at P20,754 pesos. Public school teachers enjoy PhilHealth benefits, PAG-IBIG fund benefits for housing loans, insurance when they are harmed while on duty, clothing allowance worth P6,000, cash gift worth P5,000, Productivity Enhancement Incentive worth P5,000, Personal Economic Relief Allowance (PERA), Midyear Bonus amounting to an entire month's basic salary, Year-end Bonus that is also equal to one month basic salary, hardship allowance for those assigned in far flung areas. A P1,000 bonus given on World Teachers' Day is also given.
Public school teachers also get to enjoy paid vacation leaves - 2 months vacation with pay and 2 weeks Christmas vacation with pay.
Briones also added they are now working at providing free annual medical check-up for their teachers.
The education secretary admitted the hiring process also has challenges such as requirements of the Civil Service Commission and the issue of "teachers migration," or the influx of private school teachers moving to public schools.
But Briones shared her enthusiasm that the education sector already has undergone many improvements, especially in the compensation of their teachers.
Meanwhile, Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan confirmed that new teachers will be deployed nationwide.
Malaluan said there are 2,797 vacancies for kindergarten/elementary level. For junior high school, 2,443 items are available while 4,770 items for senior high school.
Undersecretary Anne Sevilla also announced that aside from the 10,000 new teaching posts , there are also 23,000 teaching vacancies.
Sevilla explained, "Kagaya ng school building and classroom, may accumulated din tayo na mga positions na nacreate pero bakante pa hanggang ngayon. We have 23,000, those accumulated vacant positions plus 10,000 this year, so we are expecting about 33,000 new teachers this year."
Under the 2019 budget, P2.11 billion has been allocated for the hiring of additional public school teachers.
You can watch the interview of Secretary Leonor Briones below (courtesy of DZMM):
— Sally, The Summit Express
Briones explained that the reason why they are hiring more teachers was not due to teacher shortage but they wanted to significantly reduce class size. The agency is also keen in making sure that teachers' expertise match the subjects.
She added they are looking at a ratio of 1 teacher per 45 students for grade school while in the kindergarten, should only have 25 students per class.
Briones said the entry-level salary of teachers will be around P20,000. She reiterated that aside from the compensation, public school teachers enjoy many benefits.
The basic salary of Grade 1 teachers is at P20,754 pesos. Public school teachers enjoy PhilHealth benefits, PAG-IBIG fund benefits for housing loans, insurance when they are harmed while on duty, clothing allowance worth P6,000, cash gift worth P5,000, Productivity Enhancement Incentive worth P5,000, Personal Economic Relief Allowance (PERA), Midyear Bonus amounting to an entire month's basic salary, Year-end Bonus that is also equal to one month basic salary, hardship allowance for those assigned in far flung areas. A P1,000 bonus given on World Teachers' Day is also given.
Public school teachers also get to enjoy paid vacation leaves - 2 months vacation with pay and 2 weeks Christmas vacation with pay.
Briones also added they are now working at providing free annual medical check-up for their teachers.
The education secretary admitted the hiring process also has challenges such as requirements of the Civil Service Commission and the issue of "teachers migration," or the influx of private school teachers moving to public schools.
But Briones shared her enthusiasm that the education sector already has undergone many improvements, especially in the compensation of their teachers.
Meanwhile, Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan confirmed that new teachers will be deployed nationwide.
Malaluan said there are 2,797 vacancies for kindergarten/elementary level. For junior high school, 2,443 items are available while 4,770 items for senior high school.
Undersecretary Anne Sevilla also announced that aside from the 10,000 new teaching posts , there are also 23,000 teaching vacancies.
Sevilla explained, "Kagaya ng school building and classroom, may accumulated din tayo na mga positions na nacreate pero bakante pa hanggang ngayon. We have 23,000, those accumulated vacant positions plus 10,000 this year, so we are expecting about 33,000 new teachers this year."
Under the 2019 budget, P2.11 billion has been allocated for the hiring of additional public school teachers.
You can watch the interview of Secretary Leonor Briones below (courtesy of DZMM):
— Sally, The Summit Express
