Teachers give wish list to Aquino
Activists held a picket at the gate of the Aquino residence in Times St. in Quezon City on Monday calling on President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to make good his campaign promise of making education a priority of his administration.
League of Filipino Students (LFS) national chairman Terry Ridon said they want to see something concrete from Aquino in his first 100 days in office regarding his education policies.
Ridon called on Aquino to impose a moratorium on tuition increase in his first 100 days as chief executive.
The group, numbering around 20, also launched a 4-point criteria for youth appointees in the Aquino government:
- * clear pro-student and pro-youth positions such as tuition moratorium and greater state subsidy for education in all levels;
- * clear pro-people positions on issues such as agrarian reform, and wages and benefits for the working class;
- * unflinching resolve to hold President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her “cohorts” for corruption, human rights violations, and other “anti-people policies”;
- * proven track record of leadership.
Meanwhile, public and private school teachers also demanded from Aquino, among others, additional budget for education and higher salaries.
In a press statement, the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) said it wants to meet with the camp of Aquino in an attempt to push changes they have long been seeking.
This comes ahead of the first day of classes on Tuesday in most of the schools across the country.
Based on the ten-point Teachers’ Dignity Agenda, the teachers are calling for:
- a. the immediate replacement of Winston Garcia as Government Service Insurance System president and general manager; as well as the cancellation of unjust and anomalous GSIS policies;
- b. sufficient budget to address the problems in the public school system; earmark 20% of the national budget to education;
- c. the upgrading of the salary of entry-level teachers in the public elementary and secondary school teachers to at least salary grade 14 from the current salary grade 11;
- d. free and universal access to education, including the pre-school system as well as the strengthening of the alternative learning system;
- e. allocation of budget for the implementation of the welfare provisions of the 1966 vintage Magna Carta for Public School Teachers (RA 4670);
- f. the auditing and subsequent cancellation of payments in several anomalous and illegitimate debts;
- g. the enactment of the Magna Carta for Private School teachers;
- h. the relief of teachers from hazardous non-teaching related assignments, such as compulsory election duties and census enumeration;
- i. job security for public school teachers; and,
- j. more benefits.
TDC national chairperson Benjo Basas said the country needs 60,000 teachers to fulfill the education needs of students.
At present, there are only about 550,000 teachers.
He said the group’s meeting with the Aquino camp will also allow them to learn about the president-elect’s “education agenda.” ABS-CBN News
