For World Teachers’ Day, teachers and education advocates called on the government to ensure teachers’ welfare and transparency in budgeting and accountability as they denounced the impacts of corruption on the education system.
In a press conference organized by E-Net Philippines, a non-government organization engaged in policy advocacy for education reforms, teachers slammed corruption in infrastructure projects in the country, emphasizing that while they struggle with delayed salaries and benefits, billions of pesos are allocated to ‘ghost’ flood control projects.
‘The ghost, substandard, and poorly built flood control projects have caused massive flooding in communities, forcing students and their families to leave their homes. This may be one reason why nearly a million children were unable to enroll, according to DepEd [Department of Education],’ Prof. Flora Arellano, president of E-Net Philippines, said in a statement on Sunday. Arellano also said that the education sector is not spared from corruption, as the DepEd previously reported that over 1,000 classrooms built by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) were turned over despite being ‘incomplete.’
Education Secretary Sonny Angara then estimated that the classrooms cost between P2.5 and P3.7 million. He noted that while the funding for their construction was under the DepEd’s budget, it was the DPWH that bid out the projects to contractors.
Aside from this, the teachers questioned the use of Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) funds for its alleged investment in online gambling and overpriced laptops. Sen. Risa Hontiveros previously said that the GSIS invested P1 billion of its funds in online gambling platform DigiPlus. She then questioned why the GSIS is using public funds as a capital for gambling.
With this, the E-Net Philippines called on the government to heed their demands:
Full implementation of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers, which includes hazard pay, hardship allowance, and medical benefits;
Salary upgrading and timely release of teachers’ benefits nationwide;
Audit and reform of DPWH’s infrastructure contracts and the suspension of classroom turnover until they are fully compliant;
Transparent budgeting and public accountability to ensure citizens’ access to monitoring of contracts, project status, and budget;
Protection of GSIS fund and redirection of public money to teachers’ welfare and education needs;
Safe, inclusive, and adequately-funded classrooms, especially for the alternative learning system, special education program, Madrasah, and indigenous peoples’ education; and
Commitment from DepEd leadership to work with teachers’ groups in enacting education reforms.