The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines on Tuesday urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to immediately review teachers’ welfare, citing widespread burnout just weeks into the new school year under the hastily rolled-out three-term calendar.
ACT said the addition of the ARAL Program has further burdened educators already grappling with unclear guidelines, inadequate preparation, and lack of institutional support.
“Guro kami, hindi makina” stressed ACT Chairperson Ruby Bernardo, lamenting low pay, stagnant benefits, and mounting non-teaching tasks.
The group criticized DepEd’s rush to implement reforms, noting that policy guidelines were released only days before classes opened.
ACT warned that the calendar shift has failed to create sustainable teaching conditions, with chronic shortages and oversized classes persisting.
Bernardo pointed to recent incidents of school violence as evidence of systemic neglect, saying teachers are “set up to fail” in delivering quality education.
ACT reiterated calls to remove the ARAL Program from teachers’ regular duties and use its ₱8.9-billion budget to hire 448,000 tutors.
The group also pressed the Marcos Jr. administration to realign funds from “misprioritized expenditures” such as confidential allocations and military spending, and raise public education investment to at least 6% of GDP. # (RRN)
