st5f;rtard
ThwsdaY, Decemb et 5,2O19
'lnciease salary of private schoolteacherd
By MaricelV. Cruz
A MILITANT lawmaker on WednesdaY
filed a bill increasing the minimum
salaries of private school teachers to
P30,000 per month.
House of Representatives' Assisiant
Minority Leader Fmnce Castro of ACT
Teachers said private school teachers,
particularly those assigned in basic
education and outside the National Capital
Region suffer unequal treatnent when'it
comes to their salaries and beneflts.
"Those against increasing the salaries
ofpublic school teachers often argue that
they already have salaries higher than
rcachers b private schools. They claim
that there would be a migra.tion of{eachers
from private school teachen to public
schdols when their salaries increase,"
Casto said. "It is true that many private
schools receive lower salaries than public
school teachers. That is why we fi1ed a bill
increasing the minimum monthly salaries
ofprivate school teachen to P30,000.'
The 2010 Revised Manual for
Regulation of Private Schools in Basic
Education of the DepEd provides for the
sharing ofincrernents in tuition increases,
,\ pAq€ -/\t3n,
that is, 70 percent ofthe tuition collection
must be allocated to the salaries andl
or wages of teaching and non-teaching
personnel, Castro, member of the
Makabayan Bloc, said.
"The right ofprivate school teachers and
their education support personnel must
not be made dependent or conditioned on
tuition increases," she added.
Castro said private school teachers,
like their comterpaxt in the public sector
have long been calling fo.r a substantial
increase in their salaries.
- "Gabhen in the private sector are
not spared from huge class sizes and
additional tasks apafi from thek teaching
responsibility. They are also overworked
and underpaid," Castro said.
The lady legislator lamenied that many
private scbool teachers receive salaries
that does not comnensurate to their status
as ieachers.
According to her, there axe even reports
of privaie elementary and high school
teachers being paid salaries ranging from
P3,000 to P6.000-this despite being
licensed professional temhers and possess
the necessary and desirable qualifications
for teaching."