AROUND 10,000 elementary and high-school teachers in the city of Manila are expected to receive a P500 increase in their monthly allowances, Manila Mayor Joseph E. Estrada announced last Friday.
Estrada made the announcement during the city’s celebration of World Teachers’ Day at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. With the increase, each teacher’s monthly allowance is now at P2,500, from P2,000.
The mayor also announced another impending increase to be doled out next year, further raising the educators’ monthly allowance to P3,000 by 2018.
“I know it is not easy to educate, to discipline and to inspire young people in this day and age, when they have the energy for Facebook and Instagram but not as much for their lessons,” he told the teachers.
Estrada also pointed out the logistical challenges that make teaching even more difficult as educators are forced to work around less-than-ideal environments. He then promised to provide infrastructure and equipment that could improve the learning environment both for teachers and students.
“Your local government’s full support for your welfare and that of the entire educational sector is ensured as we pursue a continuing infrastructure program for the construction of new school buildings and the upgrade of existing facilities,” Estrada said.
He also reiterated his promise to modernize learning in the city of Manila, with the help of audio-visual systems, LCD projectors with whiteboards, modern desktop computers, tablet armchairs and other technical, vocational, livelihood (TVL) tools to make the city-run schools on a par with private learning institutions.
Meanwhile, Manila Schools Supt. Wilfredo Cabral said Estrada has already approved the city’s education budget of P1.5 billion for 2018, which is P500 million more than what the local government allotted in the past two years.
Cabral also revealed plans of mass-automation in the city-run schools to improve and ease the systems from payroll to payment of school fees.
He also clarified that Estrada’s grant of hiked allowance for teachers is not covered by the city’s Special Education Fund. Instead, he said the budget for it came directly from the budget of the Office of the Mayor.