EDITORIAL - Underpaid

A nation’s most precious resource is its people. And a nation that makes it possible for its citizens to achieve their highest potential is assured of progress. In developing human capital, much of the responsibility falls on the shoulders of teachers. It is no coincidence that the quality of Philippine education deteriorated over the years as the shortage of qualified teachers worsened.

That shortage can only become more acute if the government continues to expect public school teachers to deliver premium service on a shoestring budget. Many of the best educators have left the country for better paying jobs overseas. Others have even accepted work as maids abroad, again for higher pay.

Public school teachers have a starting salary of P10,933 to P12,997 a month. Their counterparts in the private sector get a minimum starting pay of about P15,000. Public school teachers are currently up in arms over a plan by Congress to cut a proposed increase in their monthly pay from P9,000 to P6,000. The original proposal calls for an increase of P3,000 a year for three years on top of the P9,000.

Teachers’ organizations pointed out that their pay was lower than the monthly stipend of cadets of the state-run police and military academies, whose graduates enter their respective services as junior officers. It’s cold comfort for teachers that soldiers and cops are also underpaid, with the starting pay for the lowest ranks just barely above the minimum wage. Studies have shown that many cops live below the poverty line.

Poor pay has also driven thousands of health professionals to leave the country, creating a crisis in public health care. Most government workers in fact can use a salary increase, but because of limited resources, the best that the government can manage is to prioritize the sectors that will receive a pay hike. Among those that deserve priority are public school teachers.