On Monday, schools in the basic education system kicked off the academic year by welcoming 27.6 million students across the country — and with them, a shortage in classrooms, learning resources, chairs, desks, water, and teachers.
For the first time since 2019, classes resumed in June after the Department of Education (DepEd) reverted to the June-to-March calendar. During the COVID-19 pandemic, classes started between August and September, but DepEd made the decision to make a gradual transition to the old calendar due to concerns about the weather.
Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) National Chairperson Benjo Basas said that teachers are ready for the school year, but the government must also fulfill its responsibilities. In a statement, he said, “Teachers are always ready and enthusiastic to perform their duties despite the recurring challenges we face every year. But it is also the government’s duty to make sure we are not left to carry this burden alone.”
During Brigada Eskwela last week, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. visited two public schools in Bulacan, where he flagged the lack of water in restrooms. After that, 532 water districts across the country were ordered to fix water supply issues in their respective areas, according to Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) Administrator Jose Moises Salonga.
“[The memorandum] covers both private and public schools. We are now processing all of those reports,” Salonga said during a Palace press briefing on Friday, June 13. “What we’ve planned to do is to come up with short-term solutions as well as systemic long-term solutions.”
“The DepEd acknowledges the shortages in our schools, but the question is whether their actions are enough to address them,” Basas said. “We don’t see a strong push from the department in demanding adequate funding from Congress.”
According to TDC, the shortage in teachers has led to “overcrowded classes and heavier workloads” that affect educators and students alike. Benefits promised in the 1966 Magna Carta for Public School Teachers, such as overtime pay, paid study leave, free medical examination and treatment, higher salaries, and special hardship allowances, are “underimplemented, if not totally unenforced.”
“No education reform will succeed if we continue to neglect the very people tasked to make it work — our teachers,” said Basas.
In a Teleradyo interview on Friday, he also said that teachers remain unequipped to deal with bullying and related mental health concerns. “Hindi po ‘yan trabaho ng teacher,” he said, pointing out that schools offer counseling and mental wellness services. He said that teachers should still be trained, as they are typically the first to respond to students’ mental health crises.
