SENATOR Joel Villanueva on Sunday said that the “all systems go” pronouncement of the Department of Education for the opening of classes on August 22 must be matched with the readiness on the ground of facilities, teachers and students.

Villanueva stressed that sharing tables and chairs and holding classes under the shade of trees must no longer happen.

“We expect our students to have their classes in comfortable classrooms and with complete learning materials as promised by DepEd,” he said.

He urged the observance of minimum health standards in schools to prevent the spread of Covid19.

The senator also pushed for the salary upgrade of teachers.

“A salary upgrade is ideal which we will continue to push. But a realistic measure that may be immediately addressed would be an increase in allowance of public school teachers, including those in State Universities and Colleges and state-run technical vocational institutions,” he said.

“Outside of their academic tasks, we know of teachers who end up spending their own money to shoulder classroom-related expenses and to assist needy students so they continue to be in school,” he added. “We must pay our teachers for what they are worth given the responsibility they carry on their shoulders — our children’s learning and future.”