DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara, together with Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, MMDA Acting Chairman Atty. Don Artes, Quezon City 2nd Dist Rep. Ralph Tulfo and other officials, paint school chairs during the kick-off of 2024 Brigada Eskwela at the Commonwealth Elementary School in Quezon City, July 20, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/file 

MANDALUYONG City - Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Tuesday said he will implement changes in the teaching methods in public schools to address the low proficiency of Filipino students when it comes to information literacy, problem solving, and critical thinking skills.

Speaking to reporters during an event in Neptali A. Gonzales High School in Mandaluyong City, Angara said this is in response to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s pronouncements in his State of the Nation Address Monday.

"Alam niya iyong kailangang patunguhan, at trabaho natin na gawin iyan sa lalong madaling panahon at medyo baguhin natin ang ibang teaching methods natin. Iyong teachers natin kailangan masanay sa problem solving approach dahil medyo sa gusto natin o hindi. Ayaw man natin aminin, doon tayo nasanay sa memorization and other old-fashioned techniques," Angara said.

Angara also plans to add to the learning recovery methods introduced by his predecessor, Vice President Sara Duterte.

To address learning gaps due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Duterte implemented “Catch-up Fridays” and “National Learning Camps”.

"Dadagdagan po natin per instruction ng Presidente, mag-focus tayo doon sa basics na literacy and numeracy. Iyong pagbasa, math and science. Iyon ang magiging pundasyon natin so maglalagay tayo ng extra periods during the day na magbabasa iyong mga bata," Angara said.

TEACHERS' WELFARE

To ensure the welfare of teachers, Angara said he wants to add more teaching positions to facilitate the promotion of deserving  teachers.

"What we are advocating is promotion based on merit, kasi doon naiinis ang mga teacher, ang tagal tagal na nila pero hindi sila napopromote," he said.

"So what we are proposing is the creation of additional teacher positions beyond Teacher 1 and beyond Teacher 3 dahil ang dahilan diyan iyong Teacher 1 hindi na popromote sa Teacher 3. So above Teacher 3 gagawa tayo ng ibang teaching positions para lumuwang sa baba," he added.

Teachers would also be provided with accident insurance, he added.

"It is paid for by the provident fund and the teacher  will get benefits between P30,000 to P100,000 depending on the contingency na mangyayari. That is how the insurance works," Angara explained.

He is also studying how to ease the burden of teachers when it comes to loans and debts.

"Kapag na-stretch natin ang utang hindi sila worried kung saan kukunin ang pambayad ng day-to-day. Kapag naibaba natin ang interest, definitely mas mababa ng mapupunta sa araw-araw na teachers," he added.

Ma. Kristina Joy Espiga, who is a Teacher 1 at the Neptali A. Gonzales High School, lauded such plans, saying all these efforts would boost the morale of teachers.

"Mas naeenganyo po ako na magturo, mas nagkakaroon po ako ng puso, mas sinisipagan ko po dahil alam ko na nabibigyan po kami ng importansya, kaming mga guro, dito sa Pilipinas," Espiga told ABS-CBN News.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), on the other hand, believes that Pres. Marcos left out in his SONA a crucial detail in the increase of salary of teachers.

"Sa usapin ng sahod, may binanggit sa pagtaas sa ating government employees, kasama diyan ang teachers, pero ang usapin dito ay magkano ba? Para sa Alliance  of Concerned Teachers nanatili pa rin ang aming panawagan na P50,000 para sa teacher 1 at P33,000 naman sa ating SG 1 na mga kawani," ACT-NCR Union President Ruby Bernardo told ABS-CBN News.

Meanwhile, Angara led the Brigada Eskwela activities at the Neptali A. Gonzales High School.

He joined the teachers and other local government officials of Mandaluyong City in painting the classrooms and preparing the school supplies to be distributed to students.

School Principal Dr. Corazon Regino said more teachers are needed to be hired, noting that more than 5,000 students have  already enrolled for upcoming school year 2024-2025.

"As we increase the enrollment, we will be needing new teachers. We have to hire teachers. but since there is what we call the for every school mayroong bilang ng teacher lang, depending on enrollment. but then iyon po ang challenges natin na isa," she told ABS-CBN News.

DepEd data shows that 14,829,253 students have been enrolled in all schools nationwide as of July 23, 2024.

Enrollment in public schools will be until July 26, 2024.