Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Pay hike for teachers urged

published December 17, 2008 in BusinessWorld

PALO, LEYTE — Education Undersecretary Franklin Sunga has called on public school teachers in Eastern Visayas to push for the approval of a petition for an across-the-board wage increase.

Speaking before supervisors, school heads and teachers, Mr. Sunga said mentors should unite to push for a legislated P9,000 wage adjustment.


"We should fight for it by asking our congressmen to support the bill. Fifty percent of the fight has been won since [the bill has been passed] in the Senate," he said.


The Senate has passed a bill providing public school employees with additional allowances that will increase their take-home pay by about P9,000.


This was on top of the proposed P3,000 adjustment every three years.


There is a counterpart bill in the House of Representatives, but some congressmen had wanted to incorporate the proposal in a new salary standardization law.


Equal salaries


Mr. Sunga said teachers deserve to receive salaries equal to those received by the military and police. Some 450,000 teachers nationwide currently receive an average monthly salary of P10,933.


Mr. Sunga noted that the benefits under Republic Act 4670 or the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers have not been given since the law was passed in 1966.


Among the remuneration provided in the law are additional compensation, cost of living allowances, special hardship allowance, health measures and injury benefits, and leave and retirement benefits. — Sarwell Q. Meniano

No comments:

Post a Comment