ACT Teachers Party-list Representative Antonio Tinio has warned that the opening of the new school year is highlighting a worsening education crisis, as he called for increased government investment in education and higher salaries for teachers.

Tinio said the government’s continued underfunding of public education has resulted in long-standing deficiencies that are being aggravated by what he described as hastily implemented reforms that place additional burdens on already overstretched teachers.

“The government has made a deliberate choice to underfund public education. Instead of addressing foundational gaps, the Department of Education continues to impose additional responsibilities on teachers stretched to their limits,” Tinio said.

He pointed to severe shortages across the education sector, including more than 145,000 classroom shortages, 150,000 vacant teaching positions, 300,000 unfilled education support personnel posts, and persistent deficits in textbooks and other learning resources.

Tinio also criticized the rollout of several education reforms without adequate pilot testing, particularly the implementation of a new three-term academic calendar that replaces the traditional four grading periods.

“The DepEd decided to implement the new calendar starting tomorrow with no pilot run. Major changes like this require careful preparation,” he said.

According to Tinio, the compressed academic calendar leaves only eight to 10 days between terms for extracurricular activities, teacher training, and the implementation of the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program, raising concerns over feasibility and workload management.

“All these activities must be squeezed into just eight to 10 days. The question is whether everything can fit,” he added.

He also expressed concern over the implementation of the Strengthened Senior High School Curriculum, which reduces the number of core subjects from 15 to five.

Tinio warned that the change could displace around 35,000 senior high school teachers in private schools if adequate support mechanisms for retraining and job transition are not put in place.

The lawmaker likewise questioned what he described as inconsistencies in education spending, citing the P8.9-billion allocation for the ARAL Program, portions of which reportedly remain unused despite teachers taking on additional responsibilities without corresponding compensation.

“This reflects the low priority the administration gives to education,” Tinio said.

Tinio urged the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to immediately pursue reforms, including increasing the education budget, accelerating classroom construction, hiring more teachers, reducing teachers’ administrative workload, and raising the entry-level salary of public school teachers to P50,000.

“Enough is enough. Teachers have borne too much. The time for accountability and wage increases is now—our teachers and students cannot wait any longer,” he said.