A teachers’ group on Monday renewed its call for the immediate adoption of a substitute bill institutionalizing support mechanisms and protection for teachers amid growing safety concerns in and around schools.

The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) made the appeal following recent violent incidents in schools, saying both teachers and learners face increasingly complex risks.

“The tragic incidents in Tacloban City and Zamboanga City should remind us that our schools are not automatically safe spaces,” TDC National Chairperson Benjo Basas said.

“These incidents demonstrate the vulnerability of our learners — and, at the same time, the very real physical risks faced by teachers who are expected to maintain order, respond to emergencies and protect their students even when they themselves may be in danger,” he added.

TDC stressed that while learners must be kept safe, teachers should likewise be protected from violence, threats, harassment and unjust treatment.

“We do not raise the issue of teacher protection as a counterpoint to child protection. These are not competing interests. They are inseparable responsibilities of the State,” Basas said.

He said teachers cannot effectively maintain safe and orderly classrooms when they face overcrowding, inadequate support personnel and insufficient mechanisms for handling difficult situations.

“But teachers cannot be expected to perform these responsibilities effectively when they are placed in overcrowded classrooms, provided inadequate support personnel, given insufficient mechanisms for managing difficult situations, and then left vulnerable to complaints, harassment or even physical attack when they attempt to do their jobs,” Basas said.

TDC said recent school shootings illustrated that threats inside schools go beyond disciplinary incidents or allegations of child abuse.

Teachers and learners may also face dangers involving firearms, violence, bullying, retaliation and harmful online influences, the group said.

TDC also cited its recent survey of teachers who had experienced or witnessed child abuse complaints stemming from classroom situations.

“Many complaints emerged from ordinary classroom discipline like reprimanding learners, addressing disruptive behavior and attempting to maintain order,” Basas said.

He added that such situations often arise in classrooms burdened by large class sizes, inadequate guidance and special needs education personnel, and the absence of clear and workable discipline mechanisms agreed upon by schools, parents and learners.

TDC called for the immediate passage and implementation of a comprehensive teacher protection policy that treats teacher protection, child protection and school safety as interconnected responsibilities of the government.