OPPORTUNITY FOR ADVANCEMENT The signing of the implementing rules and regulations for the Department of Education鈥檚 career progression policy for teachers was announced three days before the opening of the new academic year on July 29. 鈥擥rig C. Montegrande/Inquirer file photo
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Public schoolteachers, many of whom leave the service in low-level positions, now have the opportunity to boost their careers through new teaching and administrative positions created by the Department of Education (DepEd).
But according to a teachers鈥� group, these positions will have a 鈥渓imited impact鈥� on schoolteachers because the shortage of teachers as well as their heavy workload remain serious disincentives in their work.
Education Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara, in a ceremony on Friday, signed the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) institutionalizing the 鈥渃areer progression policy鈥� of Executive Order No. 174 which then President Rodrigo Duterte issued in 2022.
READ: DepEd chief signs IRR for teachers鈥� career progression
According to the DepEd, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had endorsed that order to the department and also referred to it in his State of the Nation Address last Monday, saying that no teacher should retire in the low-level position of Teacher I.
Under the new IRR, the new positions of Teacher IV to Teacher VII will have Salary Grades 14 to 17, or monthly salaries of P33,000 to P46,000.
Another new position, Master Teacher V, will be given Salary Grade 22, or about P71,000 to P79,000.
Also created were the positions of School Principals I to IV. With these positions, Angara said, school administrators occupying a total of 140,000 posts would be available for promotion by next year.
鈥楲ong-standing advocacy鈥�
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, who was at Friday鈥檚 signing, said her agency will allocate P6.1 billion for the EO鈥檚 full implementation by next year at the latest.
鈥淲e can get [more] from the miscellaneous funds if [the budget] isn鈥檛 enough,鈥� she told reporters.
Teachers鈥� Dignity Coalition (TDC) chair Benjo Basas, who also attended the signing ceremony, acknowledged that EO 174 鈥渋s one of the long-standing advocacies鈥� of his group.
鈥淭he policy will ensure that teachers will advance their positions while remaining as classroom teachers,鈥� he said in a statement. 鈥淭DC [also] acknowledges the signing of this IRR while we continue to call for higher salaries for teachers.鈥�
But in an interview with reporters on Friday, he also noted that 鈥淭he real problem that forces teachers to leave 鈥� is the amount of work they have to do and most of those tasks are nonteaching related.鈥�
鈥淭eachers are still doing so much work because the truth is, they never hired additional personnel to do the [administrative] tasks,鈥� he said, adding that the DepEd had earlier issued a directive, Department Order No. 002, which relieves teachers of administrative duties.
No 鈥榩rogress鈥�
Aside from hiring more staff, giving teachers a 鈥渟ubstantial鈥� salary increase would help 鈥渞esolve鈥� the sense among teachers that they 鈥渄o not see any progress in their lives in our country,鈥� Basas said.
Pangandaman said teachers are due to get a pay hike under the Salary Standardization Law 6, although that proposal is still pending in the Senate.
Two of the four pending Senate bills鈥攁uthored by Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr., respectively鈥攕eek to raise the entry-level salary of public schoolteachers by P2,700.
These salaries are currently at around P27,000. Basas maintained that teachers would need a pay increase of at least P15,000.
There are more than 900,000 teachers employed in about 47,000 public schools nationwide.