Senate hikes DepEd budget for ‘chalk allowance’ of teachers

Sen. Loren Legarda (File photo from INQUIRER.net)

All public school teachers will receive additional P1,000 in their annual cash or chalk allowance this year, Senator Loren Legarda said on Wednesday.

Legarda, chair of the Senate committee on finance, said an additional P770 million had been allocated to the Department of Education’s (DepEd) budget to increase the annual chalk allowance of public school teachers from P2,500 to P3,500 per teacher.

“This is good news for our teachers because additional allowance means they can purchase more of what they need to be more effective in teaching. Now they have additional Php1,000 to purchase classroom supplies like chalk, markers, paper, erasers and other materials,” Legarda said in a statement.

“We wanted to give them more but this is what the 2018 budget can provide as of now. Hopefully, for the 2019 budget, we will be able to give Php5,000 for annual chalk allowance per teacher. The DepEd should already include the necessary amount in their proposed budget,” she added.

In 2015, the chalk allowance of teachers increased from P1,000 to P1,500 per teacher, Legarda noted. It was later raised to P2,500 under the 2017 national budget.

Legarda also expressed hopes that the teachers’ allowance would be released early enough for them to actually purchase their supplies.

“The provision of chalk allowance to our teachers is an important concern and it is equally important to ensure that it is given to our teachers on time, before the start of the school year,” the senator said.

“If government agencies could easily provide office equipment to their staff, we should do the same for our teachers who only want the best for their students,” she added. /jpv

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