Raising the status of our teachers

With economic integration looming in 2015, ASEAN is attracting the investment community’s attention, given its combined GDP of US$2.1 trillion and 600-million strong consumer market and labor base. Vast fishing stocks, wide arable lands, and untapped mineral and gas deposits — not to mention an expanding middle class and ready access to some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world — make the region a compelling investment destination.

Last year, foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the ASEAN-5 (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Singapore) reached US$128.4 billion, growing 7 percent year-on-year—outpacing China’s US$117.6 billion for the first time since 2007.

Over the last decade, ASEAN’s GDP grew by 6 percent a year on average. However, the region has yet to unleash its full potential. Many member-nations continue to be hobbled by widespread unemployment, chronic poverty, and income inequality.

Recently, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) noted that around half of the economic growth experienced by the developed world in the last decade can be traced to improved workforce skills. ASEAN countries can easily pursue and must adapt this path to growth.

Many experts talk about equipping students with 21st century skills to prepare for the changing nature of jobs. However, the 2014 Learning Curve Report said that developing countries—like those in ASEAN—must first focus on teaching basic skills more effectively. And as the 2012 version of the Report underscores, there is no substitute for having good teachers.

This resonates with Senator Sonny Angara’s call for further increases in teacher pay scales, where after the final tranche of across-the-board government salary increases, the starting rate is around P18,000 (US$412) for public school teachers. But even with such pay jump, many Filipino teachers still remain financially burdened.

Some of our ASEAN neighbors are way ahead of us. The 2013 Global Teacher Status Index found Singaporean teachers had the highest average salary in the world—close to US$4,000 a month (around US$45,755 a year). In Malaysia, it’s around US$2,200 and in Indonesia, US$1,400. These exclude various perks and performance incentives.

By raising salaries, the Philippine education system can attract the best and the brightest into teaching careers — an imperative, given that high classroom-to teacher ratios persist amid the ongoing rollout of the new K-to-12 system.

However, high salaries are only one part of the picture. The 2012 Learning Curve Report suggests that successful school systems are able to give teachers a cultural status similar to other respected professions, while providing them relevant and continuing training. These teachers are made to adhere to stringent standards and fulfill high goals, but are also given enough autonomy to determine how best to go about their jobs.

In the Philippines, some 536,600 students enrolled in teacher training programs—the second highest among tertiary level courses in 2012. But as the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) noted, only 54 percent of 268,000 first-time takers passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) between 2009 and 2013. In the last five years, up to 60 percent of the country’s 1,200 teacher education institutions (TEIs) failed to get even half of their graduates to pass the LET. These indicate that major revamps are necessary in how we educate our mentors.

As ASEAN bids to become a more attractive investment destination, we need to pay special care and attention to how our teachers are trained and nurtured. Their status and pay must be raised to a level commensurate to the invaluable service they render to the country’s youth. –Manila Bulletin

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