“Our teachers and our learners alike suffered the effects of state abandonment even as we ourselves are grappling with the raging pandemic and economic crisis. How long will the DepEd and the Duterte regime turn a blind eye to the needs of the education sector?”
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers called on President Duterte to urgently address “the serious welfare issues of public school teachers that erode their capacities, health, and morale, and put education continuity in jeopardy.”
“The arrest came days after the DILG release a memorandum tagging ACT and other progressive groups in the public sector as a communist terrorist groups.”
With the pandemic still raging on, the crisis in the Philippine educational system has been further exposed. Instead of addressing the concerns of the education sector, the Duterte administration has chosen to neglect it even more by not providing enough budget for distance learning.
The learning modalities recommended by the education department are not suitable to students with special needs.
Public school teachers spend for their basic protection such as alcohol, face masks, face shields and gloves. The Department of Education admitted that there is no budget allocated for the hospitalization of teachers who will be infected by the virus.
“This is an injudicious handling of the people’s coffers, seeing as how the state’s insufficient funding will further deprive millions their constitutionally granted right to accessible and quality education, while education workers will be subjected to unsafe working conditions and forced to again make up for shortages.”
The groups said that such decision is an “affirmation that the agency is indeed unprepared for this school year’s blended learning.”
“The teachers, parents, and the youth are here today to demand that DepEd once and for all face us and address our pressing concerns. As their constituents, we have the right to know where the agency is in terms of preparations for safe, accessible, and quality education amid the pandemic.” By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL…
“DepEd Sec. Leonor Briones’ pep talk on fighting fears and teaching our students courage does not assuage our apprehensions as they are based on our rational assessment of the country’s present condition.”
“It is worth noting that this attack comes at a time when teachers have been growing in strength and uniting en masse for a substantial salary increase.”