By Vergel Labesig
THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers – Private Schools launched a petition to gain support for its demand for the government to set minimum salary standards for private school teachers, at par with public school rates, and grant salary subsidy to private schools which are incapable of paying the set standards.
“One in every four teachers in the Philippines teach in private schools, and they are the most underpaid section of our mentors. They too are workers who deserve livable and decent salaries, they too are heroes of nation-building who deserve the attention and protection of the State,” Dr. Jonathan Geronimo, secretary general of ACT Private Schools, said.
“The deregulation of private school teacher salaries has resulted in gross exploitation, as 93% of private school teachers receive a starting salary lower than the entry-level pay of Teacher I in public schools. Worse, 58 percent are paid a starting salary of P15,000 and below, or less than the monthly minimum wage received by laborers in the National Capital Region,” he added.
Geronimo stressed that the government has been using the low salaries of private school teachers as a justification to counter the demand of public school teachers for rightful salary increase.
“Enough of the government using our private school teachers as an alibi for abandoning its duty to public school teachers, instead, we assert its equal responsibility to ensure decent standards of living for private school teachers,” he said.
The group partnered with private school faculty associations and unions to gather signatures for the petition on-ground nationwide. The petition can also be accessed online through googleforms and change.org platforms.
Geronimo said that they plan to file the petition before the Congress in December.