A GROUP of public school teachers thanked the Department of Education for implementing a bimonthly payroll scheme for teachers and non-teaching personnel.

Kahar Macasayon, president of the Philippine Public School Teachers Association, said teachers have struggled to make ends meet because they receive their salary once a month.

“It’s good that henceforth, this will no longer be the case as the waiting period has been effectively reduced,” Macasayon said in a letter sent to Education Secretary Leonor Briones.

“We know arriving at a final decision regarding this matter was not that easy as you had to consider several factors. Nonetheless, we are extremely grateful that you have allowed compassion for teachers to win over the Department having to assume additional tasks as it shifts from once to twice a month payroll preparation,” Macasayon added.

The Department of Education’s National Employees’ Union said it fully supports the agency’s decision to release the salaries of teachers on a semi-monthly basis.

“We fully support that policy of the DepEd management because this will be more beneficial to our teachers,” DepEd-NEU president Domingo Alidon said.

He said that the bi-monthly arrangement is more convenient for teachers because their budgeting period will be shortened to 15 days compared to the 30 or 31-day budgeting period.