A RECENT Pulse Asia survey revealed that half of Filipinos think public school teachers are underpaid.

The survey, conducted from June 24-27, showed that 50 percent of the respondents think that public school teachers are underpaid while 37 percent think that they have enough salary, 10 percent were undecided and only 3 percent said that they are overpaid.

For Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, the survey results support the urgency to pass his topmost priority measure which is to raise the salary of the country’s public school teachers.

Gatchalian said that public school teachers are being left behind by their counterparts in the Asean region.

In Indonesia, the entry-level pay of teachers is P66,099 compared to the P25,439 in the Philippines.

In Senate Bill 149 or the proposed Teacher Salary Increase Act, Gatchalian proposed to raise the Salary Grades of Teacher I from Salary Grade 11 (P25,439) to Salary Grade 13 (P29,798), Teacher II from SG 12 (P27,608) to SG 14 (P32,321), and Teacher III from SG 13 (P29,798) to SG 15 (P35,097).

“Panahon na upang itaas natin ang sweldo ng ating mga guro, lalo na’t sila ay napakahalagang sangkap sa pagkakatuto ng ating mga kabataan. Kung maitataas natin ang kanilang mga sahod, maitataas din natin ang kanilang morale at mahihikayat din natin ang mas maraming mga kabataan na kumuha ng kurso sa pagtuturo,” he said.

The senator pointed out that increasing the salary of public school teachers is consistent with Republic Act 4670 or the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers.