The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) staged an Olympic-themed protest in front of the Department of Education (DepEd) to demand the immediate scrapping of the burdensome MATATAG curriculum and to decry President Marcos Jr.’s Executive Order No. 64, which grants tranches of insignificant salary increase for teachers and government employees.
During the protest, teachers symbolically lifted a MATATAG barbell while being struck by gloves labeled with “excessive workload” and “low salaries,” vividly illustrating the grueling challenges imposed by the MATATAG curriculum and the administration’s meager salary adjustments. Despite their overworked conditions, teachers were mockingly awarded medals represented by P50 coins, highlighting the paltry salary increase provided by the Marcos Jr. administration.
“This MATATAG curriculum has turned our schools into arenas of suffering. We are weighed down by overwhelming workloads and shortened time allotment for learning areas, forcing us to juggle more students and take on tasks that pull us away from teaching. All this while we are expected to implement a curriculum built on shaky ground, lacking evidence-based learning assessments and genuine and democratic consultation with teachers and stakeholders. We cannot stand by and watch as our education system sinks further into crisis, with unresolved issues like severe and perennial shortages in basic needs and the suffocating economic conditions faced by teachers and education workers dragging us down,” remarked Vladimer Quetua, ACT Chairperson.
“Teachers and education workers, much like our athletes who bring honor to our nation, are met not with the recognition they deserve but with mere token gestures. Instead of a fair reward, we are handed a meager salary increase—roughly P50 a day—when what we’ve rightfully called for is an entry-level pay of P50,000 for teachers and P33,000 for Salary Grade 1 employees, a demand rooted in the family living wage. This salary adjustment is a far cry from the remuneration we need and deserve,” Ruby Bernardo, ACT NCR Union President added.
“The fight for quality education is like a relay race—one that demands bold directions and strong support from the government. It is unrealistic and unfair to expect us teachers to carry the baton alone, delivering quality education and lifting our struggling system while the government places obstacles in our path. We are already stretched thin, and instead of easing our burden, the government is adding more hurdles for us to overcome,” Quetua ended.
