MEMBERS of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers held a dance protest at the Quezon Memorial Circle on Sunday to highlight the education sector’s demand for better support from the government.

The group underscored the “abject state abandonment” of education and urged future leaders to “bring about change” and champion the interests of the sector and the nation.

“The education sector suffered state abandonment and vicious state-sponsored attacks in the last six years, which resulted in dire learning crisis, massive disenfranchisement, and steep decline in the quality of education,”  Rosanilla Consad, the group’s deputy secretary general, said.

“Today, we want to thank all these women who labored to guarantee the youth’s enjoyment of their right to education. And, more importantly, we will continue to stand together to hold accountable the Duterte admin and demand better from them and from future leaders,” Consad added.

The event’s theme was “Lakas ng Babae, Lakas ng Guro: Sweldo, Edukasyon, at Kalusugan, Ipaglaban!” Teachers who danced to the One Billion Rising anthem wore placards that detailed their various demands, including the upgrading of education workers’ salaries, safe school re-opening, upholding of academic freedom, among others. They also called for the doubling of the budget for education to meet the standard 6 percent of a country’s Gross Domestic Product.

“These demands are necessary and urgent. The grave impact of Duterte’s neglect may affect generations to come, if these concerns are not immediately addressed. The costly and grueling demands of education amid the pandemic have already taken a toll on teachers and students. We need the government to include in its top priorities the education sector, who plays a vital role in nation-building, and to once and for all resolve the health crisis,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, pressed.

The event was capped off with the group’s signature human formation of one of their most pressing demand: the upgrading of teachers’ salaries from salary grade 11 to salary grade 15—making them at par with essential professionals like nurses.

The group argued that this remains to be one of the keys to improving the state of the Philippine education system. They likewise pushed for the upgrading of college instructors’ salaries from salary grade 14 to salary 16, and the raising of the minimum wage of education support personnel to P16,000.

“We will continue to mount protests, exhaust all available means, and use our voices to advance the rights and welfare of education workers, the youth, and the nation. This includes ensuring the election of leaders who will join us in this fight and champion the interests of the education sector, as well as guaranteeing that dictators, tyrants, and their cohorts will never again rule our country. We owe our children this much,” Basilio said.