Private schools in the Philippines are struggling, with more than 300,000 teachers expected to lose their pay. Senator Recto has urged the government to consider sending aid to these schools to caution the teachers.
The impact of coronavirus is being felt across all industries in the Philippines. The lockdowns have also forced many industries to close down while others have implemented a work at home policies.
Private schools struggling
The education sector is among the most financially hit industry, where schools have been put on lockdowns. A new Senate report shows that 330,000 private school teachers may struggle financially due to the spread of coronavirus in the country and the resulting lockdown.
In a statement released by Senator Recto, the report showed that these teachers would have their pay cut while others will see a loss of their entire salaries. The statement continued by highlighting the plight of per hour contract workers. These workers will not be receiving any salaries since they are compensated based on the number of hours they teach.
Recto explained the need to address private teachers’ loss of income. He said they had been neglected because they are the typical Filipino middle class, and in a time of crisis like this, there is a misconception that they are doing alright. He noted the government aid program did not have any provisions that addressed their plight.
Recto was concerned that the government was not giving the required attention to the education system. He urged the government to release earmarked funds for schools or alternatively, to include these struggling private schools in the government’s mall Business Wage Subsidies (SBWS) program.
This would help in ensuring the interest of teachers, students, non-academic employees such as drivers who work in the industry are protected. He also indicated the number of education stakeholders and students in the industry are more than 34 million. Therefore, ignoring such a huge demographic would have severe economic consequences for the country.
Featured image by Pixabay
