House bill seeks higher pay for private school teachers

MANILA, Philippines — In order to address the glaring disparity, a party-list organization representing teachers has filed a bill at the House of Representatives that aims to increase the salaries of private school teachers whose pay has been below their counterparts in public schools. 

House Bill 5166, authored  and filed by Rep. France Castro of ACT Teachers, aims to increase the minimum salaries of private school teachers, or at the entry level, to P30,000 a month. 

 “It is true that many private schools receive lower salaries than public school teachers. That is why we filed a bill increasing the minimum monthly salaries of private school teachers to P30,000,” Castro said. 

 Castro, an assistant minority leader, added private school teachers, particularly those assigned in basic education and outside the National Capital Region, “suffer unequal treatment when it comes to their salaries and benefits.”

“Private school teachers, like their counterparts in the public sector, have been calling for a substantial increase in their salaries.

Teachers in the private sector are not spared from huge class sizes and additional tasks apart from their teaching responsibility. They are also overworked and underpaid,” she said in a statement.  

According to her, many private school teachers receive salaries that are not commensurate to their status as teachers. 

 “There are even reports of private elementary and high school teachers being paid salaries ranging from P3,000 to P6,000. This despite being licensed professional teachers and possess the necessary and desirable qualifications for teaching,” Castro lamented. 

 According to the Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry for the Education sector for all establishment in 2015, there were already 43,900 primary and elementary private school teachers, 94,300 general secondary private school teachers and 28,700 private pre-primary or pre-school teachers.

“Filipinos are left struggling to make ends meet as prices of basic commodities and necessities such as food, rent, electricity, water and gas remain high. Private school teachers are no exceptions,” she maintained. 

 “They are struggling to put food on their tables as the higher cost of living continues to hit them. Thus, we support their resounding call of teachers in both public and private sector for the immediate grant of substantial salary increases now,” Castro said.