THE FEDERATION of Associations of Private School Administrators (FAPSA) appealed to Congress to include private school teachers in basic education as beneficiaries of the cash aid to private school mentors affected by the Covid19 pandemic.

1-Pacman Partylist Rep. Deputy Speaker Mikee Romero earmarked P300 million in financial assistance to private school teachers and personnel affected by the coronavirus pandemic included in the P162 billion Bayanihan to Recover As One Act or Bayanihan 2.

“We know this will provide one-time assistance for employees in private schools. We are hopeful to become real beneficiaries this time around,” FAPSA president Eleazardo Kasilag said.

HB 6953 provides for P300 million in subsidies for personnel of private tertiary education institutions and part-time personnel of state universities and colleges.

“Kasama ba ang FAPSA schools dito? We shall keep our fingers cross and pray that we shall be among the beneficiaries of this ‘manna’  from heaven,” Kasilag said.

According to Kasilag, private school teachers and personnel have been left out in the cold. He added most of them have submitted documents required by the Department of Labor and Employment, Social Amelioration Program and Department of Social Welfare and Development.

“Nothing came. In fact, we even formed FAPSA SAP (Social Amelioration Program) group, tasked by DepEd, for the displaced teachers which we really worked on for more than a month but to no avail,” Kasilag noted.

“We still have names of teachers and personnel and should it become a requirement, FAPSA SAP group is willing to submit it to whoever shall be tasked to handle the program. We need to disclose this since some of the teachers, after a long wait, even joked that it might have been allocated but withheld and we wish to come clean in this program,” he added.