Senator Sonny Angara filed Senate Bill 131 which aims to upgrade the minimum salary grade level of teachers from Salary Grade 11 to 19. In a post from his official Facebook page, Sen. Angara uploaded a photo of the said bill. He added the title of the bill as the caption along with the hashtags #SiTeacherNaman #AlagangAngara.
Below is the text which explains Senate Bill 131:
SENATE
S.B. No. 131
Introduced by Senator SONNY ANGARA
An Act Upgrading the Minimum Salary Grade Level of Teachers from Salary Grade 11 to 19
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Public school teachers are among the most underpaid workers, given their workload and role in the society. Despite the fact that they are heralded as molders of our children’s future and second parents to our children, public school teachers receive a basic salary that does not equate to their contribution. Our teachers are considered to be the heart of the educational system. Hence, the government needs to give priority to their welfare and interests.
The low salaries received by our more than 800,000 public school teachers have been a major disincentive for them to improve their skills in teaching and pursue further education and training. More so, our public schools have failed to attract the best and the brightest graduates from the top colleges and universities because of low salary levels, preventing our public education system from benefiting from the knowledge and expertise of outstanding teachers. Especially with the implementation of the K-12 law, having inspired and capable teachers is probably one of the best investments our government could make.
In this regard, this bill seeks to raise the minimum salary grade level of teachers from the current Salary Grade 11 to 19. With this increase in salaries, more qualified and competent educators will be attracted to teach in public schools. Definitely, this will greatly help in motivating our teachers to strive for excellence in their field and thus, improve the quality of education in the public school system.
For the abovementioned reasons, approval of this bill is earnestly urged.
Source: Facebook / Sen. Sonny Angara
