Presidential table talk

Title

Language

English

Year

1947

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

.. ' I PRESIDENTIAL MARCELINO A. Annual R eport in the Making Let us review what the present administration has done for us so far. Concretely, the administration has. already taken the following measures in behalf of the teachers: 1. The revision of the allocation j.or classroom ·teachers from Grade 9 to Grade 9-8-7, allowing. them salary of 'P960 per annum. Under the budget policy for the current year, which eliminates the lower rates in a . grade allocation, the teacher should thus be able to get thi·.; amount of P960 a year as salary. This is so provided in various bills rec·ently presented in Congress. 2. The cost of living bonus is provided in the proposed budget for the next fiscal year. This will insure the bonus for teacher.; for the next 12 months. 3. A bill has been presented to Congress allowing teachers to collect a fee of P0.50 for administering oath t9 claimants of war damages. This is an admini~tration measure prepared in recognition of the need of the teachers for more income and in ~preciation of their sifent but effective services to the public. 4. In connection with the proposed census wherein teachers will handle most of the work of enumeration, measures are being devised to enable these teachers to get extra pay des8 ._ TABLE TALK ' BAUTISTA pite the prohibition agl!-inst double compensation. 5. The Cabinet has ruled that provinClal scbool teachers should be given bonuses from tuition fees, regardless of wh.ether or not other provincial employees can be given -similar bonuses. 6. B. S. E. gradu.ates who are Jr. teacher eligibles · are now made eligible for regular appointment in the secondary schools. 7. Representations have also. been made to enable U. P. graduates who are Jr. teacher eligibles by virtue of graduation to become eligible for sa; lary promotions. Said Sec .. Gallego: "These are only a few of the concrete measures already won in behalf of the teachers. The true amelioration of the teadhers' lot, bowever, cannot be a'chieved by the government alone, insolvent as it is now and ·will be for the next few years to come. It is for this reason that this Dep.artment has taken steps to help increase the teachers' income through a method of self-help. I refer especially to the plan to create a National Teachers' Cooperative Association which, as I outlined in the last convention of division superintendents, should give material benefits to our public school teachers everywhere." It is about time that our public school ·teachers appreciate and practice the principle of self-help,_ for in it lies •'( ·' ~; . .:· PRESIDENTIAL TABLE TALK 9 '· largely their own salvation. This • · ~ implies that · they should be creators, instead of mere consumers, of values. Too often we conceive of government a's a kind of "physic shop" established to provide us with all the remedies for our problems. This was not the conception that ~ade the Greeks of old sturdy citizens; this is not the conception. that' will improve our lot at present. Since a government is only as strong as its constituents, it cannot minister to all their needs. It is obvious from this that our teachers must solve many of their problems themselves -out of their initiative, their self-reliance, their cooperative spirit. B. ' Congressional doings ' In the last session of the Congress, some members tried very hard to make a good palabas for ~6.851 teachers. The best palabas was the Francisco "Teachers' Bill of Rights." It is a wonderful show and the fighting Senator (who a we remember made many promises for the teachers in the pre-election) exploited its dramatic possibilities by sending teachers copies of the bill. But, alas and alack, could teachers believe that the bill had a chance? Did they not see that the bill if enacted into a law would have needed many times the total budget of the Philippine Government to carry into effect? The bill having served its purposes of making the teachers believe that the Senator was doing something for them went • the way of all such bill -the ashcan. O~e other bill introduced in the Senate .vent through that body. That was the preposition to have the school year begin in August rather than July. Why ,. the Senate should bother itself about suc·h a bill is hardly comprehensible. No wonder it did not enn go through the Committee on Education in the Lower House. Se,·eral times before the war the Bureau of Education studied this problem. It was decided that June was the best time to open classes so that the childr!!n would not have to _ go to school during the hottest part of 'the year, which in most regions are the months of Ap~il and May. July had to be decided instead of June, however, because of budgetary difficulties. The school year .and the fiscal -year had to begiri at the same time. The move to transfer the vacation months to June and July, strange as it may seem, engrossed the attention of the Committee on Education in the Senate. And what about the Lower House? There were really Jnany bills introduced in the Lower House. Those Congressmen are nearer the people and they are more familiar with their needs. They passed a measure making it possible for temporary teachers to enjoy certain privileges now enjoyed by civil service eligibles. The bill was finally enacted by both Houses and signed by the President. According to interpretations made on this Act of Congress, only those who have served the required number of years and can meet the other requirements, are entitled to the benefits of the law .. The Lower House also passed a bill providing a fund for the teachers who had been receiving the benefits of the Teachers' Pension Act before the war. The bill was finally passed by both Houses, put . unfortunately the President vetoed the measure. The last session of Congress also passed a bill allowing ·the vocational schools supported by the province to impose tuition fees. This bill was approved by the President. It will now be possible for the provincial vocational schools, which are now so anaemic for lack of financial support, to obtain some funds for replenishing their equipment. The last session of Congress of course provided for the usual expenditures of (Continued on page 33) FOR MODER_; OPTICAL NEEDS-SEE KEEPSAKE OPTICAL-80 Escolta

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