SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian wants the Senate to conduct an inquiry on the complementary roles of public and private schools to achieve sustainable development goals in education.

He issued the call after the Private Education Assistance Committee urged the government not to marginalize private schools.

PEAC Executive Director Doris Ferrer said there is a need to close teachers’ salary gap.

When the second semester of School Year 2019-2020 began, the average monthly salary of a public school teacher was P22,316. On the other hand, a survey by the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations of the Philippines revealed that the average monthly salary of a private school teacher was P14,132 at the elementary level, P15,048 in junior high school, and P16,258 in senior high school.

“Kasabay ng ating pagrepaso sa buong sektor ng edukasyon ang pagtugon natin sa mga hamong kinakaharap ng mga pribadong paaralang katuwang natin sa paghahatid ng dekalidad na edukasyon. Tutulungan natin silang makabangon, lalo na’t nakaranas sila ng matinding pinsala dahil sa pandemya ng Covid19,” Gatchalian said.

For School Year 2021-2022, private school enrollment was 23 percent below pre-pandemic levels, causing the closure of 185 schools.

Last year, Gatchalian filed Proposed Senate Resolution No. 12, which seeks an inquiry on how to strengthen the complementary roles of public and private education institutions.

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education said there is a need to formulate a dynamic and responsive framework to further operationalize the principle of complementarity enshrined in the 1987 Constitution.