SENATOR Leila de Lima urged the government to hire more teaching assistants to help teachers with other administrative tasks and ensure that they can provide quality education to their students.

De Lima said hiring teaching assistants can help teachers efficiently and effectively educate their students.

“‘Yung mga teachers natin, professionals ‘yan at highly educated pero dahil napakarami nilang ginagawa, minsan nagiging Comelec assistant at kung ano-ano pang pinapagawa ng local government, nakakalimutan natin na teachers at professionals sila who are specifically trained para magturo ng bata,” she said.

“Ang gusto natin gawin ay ‘yung mga teachers ay 80% at least ng kanilang trabaho ay sa pagtuturo lang. Hindi sila dapat binubugbog sa mga administrative duties,” she added.

The senator said that as the number of students increase in a particular area, the number of teachers and facilities should also increase.

“Gusto natin systemic na, kasi dapat automatic na nakasabay na siya sa population. Kapag dumami ang tao, automatic meron nang kapangyarihan ang DepEd na paramihin ang teachers, na paramihin ‘yung classrooms, depende sa area,” she said.

De Lima believes that providing children with proper education is the country’s best hope for a better future.

The senator co-authored Republic Act 11314 or An Act Institutionalizing the grant of Student Fare Discount Privileges on Public Transportation and For Other Purposes, as well as RA 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education.

She also filed Senate Bill 2497 which seeks to promote, protect and uphold the rights of public teachers by instituting a Revised Magna Carta for Public Teachers that can respond better to their present needs.