Rains seen greeting students on school opening

MANILA, Philippines — Rains will greet students on the opening of classes tomorrow, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

PAGASA said an intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) will prevail over Mindanao and affect the rest of the country, including Metro Manila.

“Mindanao will have mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms because of the ITCZ,” PAGASA said in a weather advisory.

According to Esperanza Cayanan, PAGASA weather division chief, the oscillation of the ITCZ – a rain-producing weather system – is expected to affect Mindanao in the next five  days.

“The  rest of the country, including Metro Manila, will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with afternoon or evening rainshowers and thunderstorms,” the state weather bureau said.

Thunderstorms are expected in the afternoon that may trigger flashfloods in low-lying areas, it added.

Address teachers’ concerns

Meanwhile, aside from preparing schools for the opening of classes, teachers’ organizations are urging the Department of Education (DepEd) to address concerns of teachers nationwide.

The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) said DepEd appears to have forgotten the “single most important factor in the learning process” as it prepares for the opening of classes tomorrow.

“The DepEd should address the welfare concerns of our teachers,” TDC chairman Benjo Basas said, citing the need to increase the salary of teachers and fix concerns with teacher loans at the Government Service Insurance System.

He also called for the full implementation of the Magna Carta for Teachers, which provides benefits such as overtime pay, paid study leave, hardship allowance and medical benefits.

“We need enactment of laws or at least legislative oversight in order to pursue these agenda, and the support of the education secretary is crucial,” he added.

On the part of the DepEd, the TDC called for changes in some policies, including the suspension of the results-based performance management system and the return to simplified lesson preparations.

The group also called for prohibition of Saturday classes and conduct of required meetings during weekends, full implementation of the six-hour workday nationwide, hiring of non-teaching personnel who will accomplish clerical tasks and provision of health benefits for teachers.

Basas said they are willing to meet with DepEd officials to discuss their demands.

Quezon City teachers will hold a Zumba workout activity this morning as part of their campaign to call for salary increase.

Earlier, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said poor compensation remains one of the major issues faced by teachers as school opening approaches.

“The quality of teachers’ service is bound to suffer when they are living on a hand-to-mouth basis,” said ACT secretary-general Raymond Basilio.

He said the low salary of teachers is further eroded by the steep increase in the prices of basic commodities due to the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion program.

ACT chair Jocelyn Martinez said President Duterte promised to increase salary of teachers, but has not initiated any concrete steps to do so.

“With school opening just around the corner, the government continues to neglect the worst deficit in the education system – the just compensation of over 800,000 public school teachers under the Department of Education,” Martinez said.

“For the longest time, teachers in public and private sectors have been among the lowest paid professionals in the Philippines,” she said.