SENATE Committee on Finance Chairman Juan Edgardo Angara on Saturday assured the country’s public school teachers that their teaching supplies allowance will continue to be funded as a necessary expense under the General Appropriations Act.

Previously known as the chalk allowance, the teaching supplies allowance is for the purchase of tangible or intangible supplies and materials, the payment of other incidental expenses, and the implementation or conduct of various learning delivery modalities recognized and implemented by the Department of Education.

From a mere P700 per year in 2011, the teaching supplies allowance has steadily increased over the years to P1,000 in 2012, P1,500 in 2016, P2,000 in 2017, P3,500 in 2018, and P5,000 from 2021 to the present.

“Since taking over as chairman of the committee on finance in 2019, we have ensured that the teaching supplies allowance is always funded. The P5,000 a year that our teachers are currently receiving was already provided in 2021 even though the new law that will increase the amount was still in the pipeline,” Angara said.

In 2010, the amount needed for the P700 per year chalk allowance for 557,453 teachers was only P392 million.

Over time, the number of teachers has increased and the requirements for teaching have also gone up, including the cost of teaching supplies.

In 2015, the appropriations hit the P1 billion mark when the chalk allowance was hiked to P1,500 a year and the number of teachers went up to 681,024.

Since 2021 when the amount was increased to P5,000, Congress has appropriated over P4 billion annually.

In 2021, the total number of public school teachers was 886,830 and today there are already 965,082.

“Mahalaga na matugunan natin ang pangangailangan ng ating mga guro sa pagturo ng mga kabataan. Hindi na dapat nangyayari na nagaabono pa ang mga guro para bumili ng supplies dahil sa kulang ang allowance na galing sa pamahalaan,” Angara said.

Angara is one of the authors of Senate Bill No. 1964 or the Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act which institutionalizes the grant of teaching supplies allowances to public school teachers.

The Senate and House of Representatives have ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the bill, which is now with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for his review and signing.

Once enacted, the Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act mandates the increase in the teaching supplies allowance to P10,000 a year.

“Matagal na natin itinutulak ang panukalang batas na ito at inaasahan natin na susuportahan ito ng ating Pangulo para sa kapakanan ng ating mga guro at mag-aaral,” Angara said.