BONGBONG MARCOS: ENSURE TEACHERS' WELFARE IN K-12 PROGRAM

Vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. today said with this year's full implementation of the K-12 program, the welfare of the teachers that will be affected should be ensured so as not to create further difficulties among the stakeholders.

At the same time, he said the next administration should provide the necessary requirement to ensure the success of the program and achieve its goals.

"We need to be addressing the quality of teaching, insufficient number of school buildings and classrooms, and the quality of educational materials for the students. But what seems to be lacking is a support system under the K-12 that we need to have in place for our teachers," he said.

Marcos said while he recognized the need to upgrade the country's so-called "pre-university" educational system to make it at "international standard" level by adding 2 years in high school, the government should also protect the teachers who will be displaced because of its implementation.

It is estimated that some 12,000 college instructors and professors are in danger of losing their jobs this year during the so-called transition period of the full implementation of the K - 12 basic program.

"They should be given all the necessary support - financial, scholarship grants, other teaching positions, among others to help them cope in the transition period because they have their needs and that of their families," Marcos said.

Aside from security of tenure issue, Marcos said the K-12 program should also uplift the economic condition of the teachers, both teaching and non-teaching personnel, by increasing their salaries and upgrading their benefits.

"If the students want high grades, the teachers are also dreaming of high "grades." Ito ay ang pagtataas ng salary grades, ang kanilang sahod at pagdagdag ng iba pang benepisyo na dapat naman talagang ibigay sa kanila," he said.

He said since the K-12 aims to upgrade the country's education system, a parallel enhancement process should be implemented to ensure proper handling of the teachers' premium contribution to the Government Service Insurance System, Social Security System, and Pag-IBIG.

"There must be a system that should be introduced that will expedite the processing and release of loans from GSIS, Pag-IBIG and SSS. At kailangan maalis ang mga gumagawa ng kalokohan d'yan na ginagamit ang pangalan ng mga teacher para iligal na makakuha ng loan na hindi dapat sa kanila," he said.