EDUCATION Secretary Sonny Angara yesterday underscored the vital role of the country’s more than 800,000 public school teachers, saying that aside from being educators, they also serve as catalysts for economic development.
Angara cited the role of teachers as key drivers of human capital development during his address at the 50th Philippine Business Conference and Expo (PBC&E).
“We often hear the phrase, ‘Teacher lang,’ but at DepEd, we say, ‘Teacher sila.’ They are our human capital developers, shaping the future workforce and driving national progress,” Angara told businessmen and stakeholders from the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).
Angara highlighted the dedication of the teachers, many of whom work under challenging conditions in remote and conflict-affected areas.
He cited the teachers of Pag-Asa Island in the West Philippine Sea as an example of commitment to education.
“Teachers are the heartbeat of our education system,” Angara said, recalling his visit to Pag-Asa Integrated School last Sunday, the only public school on the remote island that is at the center of the growing tension between Manila and Beijing in the South China Sea.
He also outlined key initiatives of the department to improve the working conditions of teachers in line with President Marcos Jr.’s directives.
These efforts, he added, include reducing workloads, increasing benefits, and introducing curriculum flexibility to support educators better.
“In our first 100 days, we have prioritized our teachers, just as the President instructed,” Angara said.
As part of efforts to address gaps in educational infrastructure, Angara also highlighted the DepEd’s ongoing projects to build more classrooms and provide digital tools, such as laptops, to learners.
“The Philippines is on the brink of great opportunities. But we can only seize them if we act decisively, craft responsive policies, and allocate resources efficiently,” Angara said.
Angara had earlier made a fresh appeal to the private sector for help in solving the crisis in basic education in the country.
Angara made the appeal when he spoke before the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines last week, saying that even if the department is running on a hefty budget of more than P700 billion, it is still insufficient to address critical shortages since most of the funding goes the salaries and allowances of public school teachers nationwide.
The DepEd previously said the classroom shortage stood at around 159,000 nationwide.
During the Senate hearing on the DepEd’s budget for 2024, the department said it would need at least P397 billion to address the current classroom backlogs. Each classroom costs around P2 million.
The classroom shortage led to some schools in highly-congested areas in Metro Manila, Cebu City and parts of Calabarzon to implement three shifts of classes every day.
The latest data also showed the department only has one computer for every 30 teachers nationwide while the student-to-computer ratio stood at 1:9.
