ACT urges higher pay, more classrooms

BAGUIO CITY — Public school teachers in the Cordillera region are urging the Marcos administration to deliver concrete reforms in the education sector, citing low pay, classroom shortages and inadequate government support.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Union Cordillera said the challenges faced by educators in the region mirror the problems confronting public schools nationwide.

Joel Capulong, the union’s spokesperson, said the government has yet to fulfill key commitments to teachers and students, leaving educators overworked and schools under-resourced.

ACT is pushing for an entry-level teacher salary of P50,000 a month, an increase in the monthly Personnel Economic Relief Allowance to P5,000, and an education budget equivalent to at least six percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Capulong said the education sector continues to grapple with a shortage of about 165,000 classrooms and 150,000 teaching positions, adding that more guidance counselors and administrative personnel are also needed to ease teachers’ non-teaching workload.

He said public schools in the Cordillera suffer from the same shortages, resulting in difficult working conditions and leaving teachers vulnerable to administrative abuses.

“The problems confronting teachers in the region are no different from those experienced across the country,” Capulong said, stressing the need for greater government investment in public education.

The union maintained that meaningful education reform will remain out of reach unless the government allocates sufficient funding to address infrastructure and staffing gaps while improving teachers’ welfare and working conditions.