Teachers’ ‘chalk allowance’ hike from P3,500 to P10,000 a year pushed

MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto has filed a bill seeking to raise public school teacher’s “chalk allowance” from P3,500 to P10,000 a year.

“Chalk allowance” is released to public school teachers at the start of the school year for the purchase of school supplies such as chalk, pen, erasers and paper, among others.

Recto said the current rate will not be able to buy teachers “a shopping cart of classroom supplies” that will last for a year.

“This translates into a measly P16 a day. This is not enough in this age of internet when USBs, in addition to the traditional paper and writing materials, are now part of the teacher’s tool box,” Recto said in a statement.

He noted that the Department of Education’s (DepEd) “chalk allowance” budget this year is P2.9 billion, which translates to about P0.50 per DepEd enrollee per day.

“Kulang talaga. Especially in this digital age, when IT-assisted learning is the norm, there are computer-and broadband-use related supplies needed, and these must be considered in computing the supplies the teacher needs,” Recto said.

To increase every teacher’s supplies allowance to P10,000 would need an additional P5.4 billion, he added.

The senator said he is confident that the bill would get approved as a “separate measure” or it can be “incorporated into the national budget.”

“The Senate has a good record in providing additional funds for chalk allowance. ‘Yung mga dating Finance Committee Chairman tulad ni Senators Chiz Escudero at Loren Legarda, sinuportahan ang paulit-ulit kong panukala dito,” Recto said. /gsg

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