THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers called on lawmakers to increase the Teaching Supplies Allowance of teachers to P15,000 to cover the bigger expenses that they shoulder because of distance learning.

The Senate on Tuesday approved on second reading Senate Bill 1092, which mandates the gradual increase of the TSA to P5,000 on the first year, P7,500 in year 2, and P10,000 in the final year.

“We thank our lawmakers for recognizing this very urgent need of our teachers. However, increasing it to P15,000 immediately is what would really ease the teachers’ heavier financial burdens brought about by the requirements of distance learning,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, said in a statement.

The TSA, a benefit given once a year, seeks to cover the expenses of teachers related to the performance of their duties.

“Under the distance learning and the work-from-home scheme, public school teachers are forced to take from their own pockets the operational expenses that should have been provided for by the government as our employer. We buy our own laptops and printers through loans, hurdle the monthly internet expense and higher electricity bills, and even shell out money for module printing due to lacking or scant government provisions for such items,” Basilio explained.

He said allocations for their demand should be incorporated in the 2021 budget.

Based on the group’s computation, P13.5 billion will be needed to increase the yearly teaching expenses allowance to P15,000 per teacher.

“P13.5 billion is nothing compared to the hefty allocations for infrastructure lump sums and war funds that we see in the 2021 proposed budget, but its value in making education continuity succeed amid the pandemic is a benefit that the whole country will reap,” Basilio said.