Duterte OKs new positions for public school teachers

President Duterte has approved the creation of new permanent positions for public school teachers, among other recommendations by the Department of Education (DepEd).

According to presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo, “the President approved DepEd’s recommendation to improve curriculum for students who want to pursue education, create more plantilla positions for teachers, produce a communication plan on quality education, and harness the use of technology to educate more students, educators and leaders.”

The DepEd is conducting a review of the K-to-12 basic education program, which began in 2012 under the Aquino administration.

The department had earlier proposed the creation of four new teaching positions for public school teachers—Teacher IV, Teacher V, Teacher VI and Teacher VII, with higher salary grades than the present items of Teacher I, Teacher II and Teacher III.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers has warned anew against state violence targeting teachers.

“We, as teacher-unionists, are not spared from these state attacks,” the group said in a statement. “Mouthpieces of the state mock legal and legitimate teachers as ‘teacher-actors’ while they hurl red tags and despicable lies that only aim to smear the teaching profession.”

“Our fight for livable wages, better working conditions and better social services is an exercise of all that we espouse in class,” the group also said.

There have been reported attacks on teachers, including the Oct. 15 assassination attempt against couple Ramil and Zhaydee Cabañelez, who were shot by four masked men in front of their students at Dalit Elementary School.—WITH A REPORT FROM MATTHEW REYSIO-CRUZ