AROUND 50 percent of Filipinos believe that public school teachers are underpaid.
On the other hand, 37 percent think teachers’ wages are already enough, three percent said public school teachers are overpaid, and 10 percent are undecided whether teachers’ salaries are enough or not.
The data is based on the “Ulat ng Bayan” survey conducted by Pulse Asia from June 24-27 that featured 1,200 adult respondents and commissioned by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian.
Whether there was a survey or not, Gatchalian, who will again sit as chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture for the coming 19th Congress, believes that teachers’ wages should be increased since it is much lower compared to their counterpart teachers from countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
He gave Indonesia as an example, where the entry-level pay of teachers is at P66,000 compared to P25,439 here in the Philippines.
If teachers’ salaries will be increased, it will certainly lift their morale and more Filipino youth will be encouraged to take up a teaching course.
For this, Gatchalian filed Senate Bill No. 149 or the proposed Teacher Salary Increase Act that seeks to increase the salary grade of teachers by two levels.
For Teacher 1, salary will be increased to P29,798 or Salary Grade 13 from the current Salary Grade 11 or P25,439.
Aside from Gatchalian, Senators Sonny Angara and Loren Legarda also filed separate measures that propose salary increases for teachers.