A typical scenario during Teachers’ Day: students stage classroom conflicts and call their teacher. Upon the teacher’s arrival, a mini-concert starts, with thank-you songs as a tribute. This is one of the many creative ways students surprise their teachers, bringing momentary happiness to their day.
Meanwhile, in their day-to-day conversations, teachers talk about loans and prospects of salary increases. They also talk about the challenges of having to grade papers, and accomplish multiple reports and paperwork, tasks often impossible to complete within their standard work hours because they frequently juggle various responsibilities.
The World Bank recently reported that we face challenges in achieving high teaching quality due to difficulties in attracting and selecting the best teachers as the profession continues to be beset with problems in low salaries, poor working conditions, and weak career progression.
If we want to overturn our country’s learning poverty, we must reinforce our support for teachers. And this gargantuan task requires all sectors to come together. Similar to this year’s call for National Teachers’ Month, we need the public and private sector to unite and be “Together4Teachers.”
For the government’s part, the Department of Education (DepEd) promised to hire 5,000 additional administrative staff to alleviate teachers’ burden on administrative tasks. Additionally, teachers were also promised a 30-day rest period without any DepEd activity that requires volunteer work after a year of back-to-back activities of implementing the National Learning Camp, “Brigada Eskwela,” and opening of classes. There are also efforts for salary increases, expanded career progression, and other sustainable solutions to fulfill teachers’ longstanding requests.
On the side of the industry, various approaches are being made to bring adequate support to teachers.
In Philippine Business for Education’s recently concluded “Kiddie Learning Train” project, early graders improved their literacy and numeracy skills through a combination of para-teacher support, accessible technology, and gamified learning materials. This project, implemented in partnership with private companies, nongovernment organizations, and the local governments of Himamaylan and Cebu, is a testament to how additional teacher support, access to quality learning materials, and the involvement of private and public sector result in better learning outcomes.
Surely, teachers have more items on their bucket list. And with the frustrating state of our learning poverty, there is still much work to be done to improve our education system. What we have learned from these teaching and learning initiatives is that we can support our teachers if we are able to leverage resources and forge collaboration among the business community, education stakeholders, and government—the true essence of coming “Together4Teachers.”
Teachers hold the vital responsibility of shaping the minds of the next generation of leaders, yet they often do not receive the attention and support they deserve. As we conclude our celebration for teachers on Oct. 5, let us not confine our appreciation for them to just a month.
Leave the concerts, songs, and dance performances to the children in classrooms. What teachers truly need is reform because this is not only for their own benefit but also for the learners and the nation as a whole.
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Justine B. Raagas is executive director of Philippine Business for Education. For questions or comments, email info@pbed.ph.
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Business Matters is a project of the Makati Business Club (makatibusinessclub@mbc.com.ph).