El que no llora

Title

El que no llora

Language

English

Year

1947

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

:!".• . - .. - -· ·!"' "EL QUE .;NO LLORA. " BERNARDO PICARDAL Actg. Division Industrial Arts Supervisor for Lanao I~' It is 'sad but true that for many years there hae been "hard feelings" between public school teachers and other . public servants as well as the general public. This is especially true with those whose position and earning capacity are superior ~ompared with the meager salaries of public school teachers. Botq in puplic and private enterprises, teachers are often discriminatd against and . sometimes, in official -and personal conversations, they are referred to as· "mere teachers," underpaid, suffering f.rom low standaq:l of living and even prjvation. Such attitude ~f discrimination against so-called "mere teachers" . common even among the responsible, intelligent and well-to-do people of all nationalities, forgetting the fact that these underprivileged servants of the government (as most of the critics ~all them) are the molders of the ethical ~haracter of the Filipino youth, including the critics and commentators them·selves. This condition of public school teachers is undeniab,i~. This is parti~utariy so with those teaching in the elementary schools whose basic monthly entrance salary is as low as f'45.00, without hope of increase until they become civil service illegibles no matte'r how efficient they may be. Precluded by existing rules and regulations, the division superintendents . ol schO<>.ls,.and even the Director of Educ~tion, are not .in a position to remedy. this disquieting situation. Eventually the poor but hard-working teachers have t<;> be contented with their salaries; and unless he has another means of livelih9od it is next to imposs~ble for him to maintain a desirable standard of living and to keep a high social standing in the community. Who is to blame for this? Will the division superintendent ~f schools or the Director of Education be held of1 f:.cially respon'sible? The an- ·· swer to the last question is "No,'' andthe answer to the first one is "Congr~ss." · ,I It is regretted that the writer is l cOn·. ,:: strained to ''talk" like this, but it is an ' undeniable fact that the law makers are the members of the Philippine Congress whose duty it should be to protect the · ... :teachers' welfare by enacting· a ··law ·• stand.ardizing substantially- the salaries of teacher so as to enable them· to have a presentable front as '· loyal educators ' and dependable care-takers of the youth: ' Congressmen can very well see from_.all ·· angles the imperative need of teachers. . . When the public. needs schools 'for the ' education of the children and for · the uplift of the country, teachers are i_m- . . •, minently indispensable, no matter. whe-; ther they are civil service illegibles or not, because the scho~ls ciln n'ot function without them. During elections. the teachers are counted the most- honest and most powerful group of intelligent voters to s'upport. those candidates whom" . they believe · interested in· the improvement .of the cou.n.try (eg~~dl~s.s. 9£ whe- , ther their (teachers') ·lot and welfare are taken . care of. By chance, however, teachers heard speeches of .some _·political campaigners, besides campaign letters that they received from a number of · candidates, that legislations would be in- · troduced by' them the- moment they were·: -elected to Congress; promises which were ,,. not ask-ed oy the teachers; b\lt it is r_e~ gretted fh'~t after the elections they got nothing :out of those promises, for'those . who ' enjoyed the wholehearted support -: of teachers 'have forgotten their promises · and failed to fulfill their assurances to ·· their loyal maestros. The school administrators are fully aware of the perpetuai critic.al conditions of public school teachers, but in spite FOR MODERN OPTICAL NEEDs-SEE KEEPSAKE OPTICAL-SO Eacolta 21 22 - l'HILll'PINE EDUCATOR of their eagerness to PfOvide their subordinates with adequate compensations, their good intentions do good only as far as the allocation of salaries based on the available funds alloted by the Philippine Congress. However, they are not prevented from submitting to the Philippine Congress for congressional and presidential action their recommendations for salary increases anp other mea__........sures intended to improve the lot of teachers, but the approval <'f their recommendations alone seems remote. Therefore, we 57,000 public school teachers, must have a united strength and undivided determination to be militant. We have always been too timid and reluctant to reveal to the law-making body our hardships as teachers; we ha,·e forgotten, it seems, the Spanish saying "El que no llora no mama." It is for all of us to declare together our desire to solve our economic and social strangu_lations and to back up anybody who can see our poin: of Yiew. If we still fail after our earnest pleadings have been consummated, then it will be for us -to hold our peace until the time comes again for us to meet our deceptive "liberators" in the booths of th next election precincts. I am sure we shall not forget. And we rely on the Philippine Educatq_r to keep . us reminded of our real friends. ---oOo-: MENZI ·& CO., CEBU MANILA ~ ·MANUFACTURERS OF THE '' ! . INC. . ILOILO FAMOUS SCHOOL SUPPLIES and STATIONERY F·or Sale Everywhere AT REDUCED PRICES J • • • • •• • ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

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