2019 school year opens

The Department of Education reminds students that Christmas break this year will start on December 15 and end on January 6 next year.

The Department of Education says it had already requested for a budget of P24.98 billion for the construction of the initial batch of administration buildings, which will house the principal's office and faculty room, among others, even before the restroom turned faculty room incident in Bacoor went viral last May resulting in the protest of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers,

DepEd says this in a statement after a Facebook post on June 8 by ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio who congratulated the protest of teachers on the issue of adequate faculty rooms.

"Dahil din sa ating sama samang pagkilos ay ating naitulak ang DepEd na isama sa kanilang budget para sa 2020 ang paggawa ng mga permanente at maayos na faculty rooms!" Bailio said.

"In the June 8 social media posts by Raymond Basilio, Secretary General of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), he claimed that it was their actions that prompted the Department of Education (DepEd) to include the construction of administration buildings in its 2020 budget proposal," DepEd says.

"... the Department already presented and defended its 2020 Tier 2 proposal to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). Included in the proposal was DepEd’s request for P24.98 billion to enable the construction of the initial batch of administration buildings, which will house the principal’s office, faculty room, guidance room, library, and school supplies and equipment storage during calamities. The preparation for the proposal came much earlier," it says.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones says it is not true that she is against the salary increase of public school teachers.

"As , Education Secretary and as an advocate, I am committed to the policy to promote and improve the social and economic status of public school teachers, their living and working conditions, and their terms of employment. I am in full support of the President’s pronouncement to raise the salaries of teachers," she says in a statement.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers clarifies that it has not called for the resignation of Education Secretary Leonor Briones nor for the ouster of President Duterte in response to a remark of Education Undersecretary Alain Pascua. 

"The call for Sec. Briones' resignation is a sentiment that, per our social media monitoring, came from ordinary teachers who have seen the video of Sec. Briones saying it was teachers' choice to use CRs as faculty rooms as it is 'more dramatic and touching.'"

"Asec. Pascua's presumptuous lie about ACT calling for Duterte's ouster is a deliberate effort to instigate attacks from Duterte supporters against ACT. At the moment, our concern are the more important and pressing issues of teachers and to hold a dialogue with DepEd and Pres. Duterte to address them," ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio says in a statement.

Teachers' group ACT says more teachers are coming out to speak about their situation after Education Secretary Leonor Briones' claim that the reported CR turned faculty room in Cavite is an isolated case.
 
ACT in a statement says it received reports and photos from Maligaya High School, Sergio Osmeña High School, Bagong Silangan Elementary School, and Quirino High School in Quezon City, Villamor High School and Calderon Elementary School in Manila, that CRs are converted into faculty rooms.

"Common to the cases is that teachers chipped in their own money to have the CRs remodeled and [pieces of furniture] provided so that they may have a space to do duties outside of actual teaching," ACT says.

ACT Chairperson Joselyn Martinez also expresses dismay that Briones wouldn’t support teachers' call for salary increase.
 
"We don't deserve to be painted as a whiny, selfish, materialistic bunch for asserting our rights. Maybe that is why the secretary would not support our call for pay hike, she thinks very lowly of us," furthered Martinez.

Photos courtesy of ACT

Araullo High School students in Manila are ecstatic upon seeing their old and new classmates as they attend the morning flag ceremony during the first day of the new school year. Photos by The STAR/Miguel de Guzman

Grade 2 students from Corazon Aquino Elementary School in Quezon City are busy writing during the first day of classes. Photos by The STAR/Boy Santos

Students make their way to school as they climb Culiat Bridge in Congressional Avenue in Quezon City. Photos by The STAR/Michael Varcas

Here are updates on the 2019 school year.