MANILA, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said government would spend P1 billion this year for teacher training, of which half of the amount would go to improving teachers’ English proficiency.

Without making direct reference to the reported decline in the teachers’ knowledge of the English language, the President said: "We want all teachers to have 24 units of English, whether you get it in the course of getting your degree, or if you were not able to, you get it while in the service."

"Now we can afford P1 billion for teacher training this year, but P500 million of that will go to English training," the President said in a speech at the opening of the Philippine Education Congress at the Manila Hotel on Thursday.

Arroyo told the teachers in the audience that the second installment of their P10,000 bonus was "coming soon."

She also called on Congress to pass a bill for a third round of salary increases for government workers, which would include teachers.

The President said the government would expand its scholarship program for high school students.

"We have a lack of public high schools, but we have a surplus of private high schools… That's why instead of building more public high schools, we are expanding high school scholarship for private schools," she said.

To improve school attendance, Arroyo urged local governments to adopt the "bikes for school" program, in which students whose schools were at least 10 kilometers away from their houses could avail of a bicycle that their parents could pay off at P1 a day.