FILE PHOTO: ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro | PHOTO: Official facebook page of the House of Representatives of the Philippines
MANILA, Philippines—The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) and its members in the House of Representatives expressed relief and appreciation for the Department of Education’s decision to refrain from penalizing a teacher who scolded her students in a viral post online.
In a statement on Friday (March 22), ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro said it was good that the DepEd understood that teachers have so many tasks and are vulnerable to severe stress, which may lead to outbursts like that shown by the teacher.
“Alam naman natin na napakabigat ng working conditions ng mga guro sa ngayon at namomroblema pa sila sa liit ng sahod, sa laki ng class size, mga hinahabol na urgent reports at dagdag na mga administrative at ancillary tasks, kaya minsan ay napupuno na din talaga ang mga guro pero dapat ay sa mas maayos na paraan ito nailalabas,” Castro said.
(We all know that the working conditions endured by teachers now, concerns about low salaries, huge class sizes, beating deadlines for urgent reports, and additional administrative tasks at ancillary tasks are causes for why sometimes a teacher’s patience could run out.)
“Dapat dagdagan na din talaga ng guidance counselors at psychologist sa mga paaralan at maglunsad ng mental health activities para di nagkakaroon ng outbursts o mental breakdown ang mga guro, estudyante at iba pang mga nasa paaralan,” she added.
(We should increase the number of guidance counselors and psychologists inside schools and launch mental health activities so that teachers would not have outbursts or mental breakdowns for teachers, students, and other people in schools.)
Last Monday (March 18), DepEd said a show-cause order was issued against the teacher whose video berating her students made the rounds on social media, with the department promising to investigate it.
READ: Angry teacher in viral video issued show cause order – DepEd
Education Secretary and Vice President Sara Duterte said that there would be no penalties for the teacher, advising her to stop holding classes when she is angry.
READ: VP Sara to teacher scolding her pupils: ‘Stop holding class when angry’
Castro also called on the House to prioritize a bill that would protect teachers from wrongful accusations of child abuse. In March 2023, a technical working group was formed to consolidate three bills, including one authored by Castro, that seek to safeguard the welfare of teachers wrongly accused of abuse.
“Aside from these, we are calling on the House leadership to expedite the passage of a substitute bill that consolidates different proposals seeking to protect teachers and instructors from wrongful accusations of child abuse, which was already approved at the committee level May last year but is yet to be scheduled for plenary discussions up till now,” she said
Castro said her party-list group filed the Teachers’ Protection Bill in the 18th Congress and, as chair of the technical working group that reviewed the proposed measure, worked on swift action on the bill once it was returned to the House Committee on Basic Education and Culture, which Rep. Roman Romulo chairs.
ACT chairperson Vladimer Quetua said the DepEd’s non-punitive response to the issue is a welcome development.
“Kinikilala namin ang naging hakbang ng ahensya sa pagresolba sa isyung kinaharap ng kapwa namin guro. Mahalaga na narinig ang panig ng guro at maintindihan ang pinanggagalingan nito,” Quetua said.
(We acknowledge the steps taken by the agency in resolving the issues faced by our fellow teacher. It is important for us that teachers would be heard regarding their complaints and hardships.)
“Hindi naman lingid sa kaalaman ng marami na bukod sa mismong pangangasiwa sa oversized classes, dagdag pa sa mga iniisip ng mga guro ang mababang sweldo, at pagpasan sa mga kakulangan sa paaralan at dagdag na mga trabahong labas sa pagtuturo,” he added.
(It is not a secret that teachers also think of, aside from monitoring and supervising oversized classes, low salaries, material shortages in schools, and additional work outside of actual teaching.)