A teachers’ group yesterday urged Education Secretary Sonny Angara to focus on addressing grassroots problems that continue to bedevil the education sector now that Malacanang has kept him in his post.
Angara tendered his courtesy resignation as DepEd chief along with other Cabinet secretaries in response to the call of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Last Tuesday, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin announced that the President decided to retain Angara along with several others in the Cabinet.
Teachers Dignity Coalition National Chairperson Benjo Basas also called on Angara to always maintain his line of communication with teachers and other education stakeholders.
“Umaasa kami na magpapatuloy ang bukas na pakikipag-ugnayan ng DepEd sa stakeholders, lalo na sa mga guro, sa ilalim ni Sec. Angara (We are hoping that the DepEd under Secretary Angara will continue to maintain open the line of communication with stakeholders, especially teachers),” Basas said.
“And we are hoping that he will focus on addressing problems at the grassroots, such as the classroom and school situation, if he really wants to resolve the education crisis. There is a need that those in the grassroots will feel his solutions and for him not only to rely on the good news reaching his office,” Basas added.
Basas said among these issues are the working hours of teachers, revision of the curriculum, appointment of school officials such as principal, promotion system, performance rating policy, administrative tasks of teachers, resource shortages and benefits under the Magna Carta, including the provision of medical allowance.
The TDC chair said they have already forwarded the issues that they want Angara to address, and they are waiting for him to reach out to them.
“Now that he was reappointed, we are hoping that he will finally hold a dialogue with us, teachers, before the opening of classes,” he said.
The DepEd earlier set the opening of classes for the school year 2025-2026 on June 16.
Earlier, Angara acknowledged that the country’s basic education sector is facing a 165,000-classroom shortage, largely due to the growing population.
To help address the gap, Angara said the DepEd is working to revive the Public-Private Partnership program first started by the Aquino administration, which had previously resulted in the construction of 12,000 to 15,000 classrooms nationwide.
