Bongbong Marcos wants more non-teaching staff in public schools

Grade school students at the Longos Elementary School in the coastal village of Alaminos City in Pangasinan province return to their classrooms during the first day of the pilot run of the in-person classes nationwide. (Photos courtesy of Alaminos Public Information Office)

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is planning to hire more non-teaching staff in public schools should he emerge victorious in the May 9 elections, saying many teachers suffer from work overload.

Marcos on Thursday noted that many teachers are performing tasks that are unrelated to their job which result in fatigue and burn-out that affect their quality of teaching.

For instance, Marcos said some teachers work as librarians, nurses, athletic heads, and property custodians.

“We need to hire more non-teaching personnel who are qualified for the job, yung tinutukoy ko is yung mga sobrang ginagawa ng mga guro na hindi naman dapat sila gumagawa. In that case, we can ease the work of the teachers,” Marcos said in a statement.

(We need to hire more non-teaching personnel who are qualified for the job. I’m referring to tasks that our current teachers are doing that they should not be doing.)

“Mabibigyan natin sila ng mahabang oras na makapaghanda, makapag-prepare ng mga lesson sa kung anong subject na ituturo nila. Kung minsan kasi yung mga guro natin, teacher na sila nagiging librarian, nurse din sila, may nababalitaan pa tayo na may mga nagbabantay pa ng canteen,” he added.

(We can give teachers more time to prepare their lesson plans. Sometimes, our teachers also serve as the librarian, nurse, we even receive reports that some are also in charge of the canteen.)

Marcos said reducing the non-teaching load of teachers will help maintain high quality of education in public schools. Further, Marcos said reducing the workload of teachers will help protect their mental health.

“Nitong pandemic nakita natin kung paano ‘yung naging adjustment ng mga guro. Kahanga-hanga naman talaga, pero hindi natin maitatanggi na marami sa mga guro natin ang nahihirapan sa mga gawain, marami ang nai-stress, nadi-depress at labis na naapektuhan ‘yung kanilang mental health,” Marcos said.

(During the pandemic, we saw the adjustments made by our teachers. It’s impressive but we cannot deny that many of our teachers had a hard time, got stressed and depressed and it really took a toll on their mental health.)

Aside from this, Marcos also eyes to hire more teachers on permanent status.

gsg