INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
President Marcos on Monday will sign a measure granting public school teachers an annual allowance of P10,000 starting next year, to offset their expenses in buying their own teaching supplies.
The proposed “Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo (Support for Teaching) Act,” which takes its title from the Senate version of that measure (Senate Bill No. 1964), sets an initial allowance of P5,000 per teacher for school year 2024-2025, followed by P10,000 starting school year 2025-2026 and every year thereafter.
DepEd, gov’t annual budget
The P5,000 will be charged to the Department of Education (DepEd) and the succeeding amounts will be included in the national government’s annual budget. The allowances are not taxable.
Alliance of Concerned Teachers Rep. France Castro, one of the principal authors of the measure, gave reporters on Friday a copy of a letter dated May 30 by the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office, informing her that Marcos will sign the proposed law on Monday.
‘Significant relief’
A Palace source who requested anonymity confirmed the measure’s enactment on Monday.
The bicameral conference committee ratified it on March 14. The proposed law combines the Senate bill, Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act and House Bill No. 9682, the Teaching Supplies Allowance Act.
The P10,000 will be a “significant relief to teachers who have long carried the burden of shouldering the cost of teaching supplies out of their own pockets,” said Castro, whose two allies in the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives were also among the principal sponsors.
Persistence, collective action
“With the signing of this law, our hardworking teachers will finally have the necessary funds to purchase the teaching tools they need to deliver quality education to our students,” she added.
“[This] is a testament to the power of persistence and collective action. We look forward to its implementation, which will undoubtedly improve the quality of education in our public schools,” the party list group lawmaker said.
Castro said she and other congressmen have been pushing for the institutionalization of the teaching allowance since 2016 during the 17th Congress.
“I am thrilled that after years of perseverance, our teachers will finally receive the support they deserve,” she said.