TWO senators echoed one voice in pushing for additional increase and incentives for teachers both in private and public schools saying that teachers are really underpaid for a long time and that the government must take this seriously.

Insisting that they deserve better, Senator Francis Tolentino filed Senate Bill (SB) 399 to provide public school teachers and their children scholarship grants to boost their morale.

While Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said his Senate Bill 149 seeks amendments to the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers to make it more responsive to present-day challenges.

Based on recent studies, most people believe that public school teachers are underpaid and overworked.

Data from the National Center for Education Statistics for academic year 2017-2018 showed that there were about 3.3 million full-time and part-time public school teachers — 205,600 of whom were public charter school teachers.

Tolentino in his bill clearly said it is high time that the government provide scholarship grants to public school teachers and their children in recognition of their service in educating the youth and shaping the minds of future leaders.

Tolentino further explained that allowing public educators and their children to have scholarships will entice more teachers to work in the public schools.

“In turn, more teachers would educate our growing number of public school students, enabling better quality of education to Filipinos, leading to more productive members of society,” Tolentino said.

Under SB 399, eligible public school teachers will be given scholarships for their masters, doctorate or post-graduate education related to the subjects or courses they are teaching.

The senator said the scholarships can be availed of in government-run educational institutions.

Tolentino also said children of eligible public school teachers should “automatically be given scholarship grants covering their elementary, secondary, and tertiary education.”

He also stated that SB 399 is “in line with the policy of the State to give priority to education, science and technology, arts, culture, and sports to foster patriotism and nationalism, accelerate social progress, and promote total human liberation and development.”

Gatchalian argued that when it comes to entry-level pay, Filipino teachers are being left behind by their counterparts in the Asean region which he said is a sad reality that the government must remedy.

“In Indonesia for example, the entry-level pay of teachers is P66,099 compared to the P25,439 entry-level pay of Filipino teachers,” Gatchalian said in a statement.

The senator raised the need to immediately pass his proposed priority measure raising the salary of public school teachers.

“It is time to raise the salary of our teachers since they play an important role in educating our youth,” Gatchalian insisted.