To make the country’s educational system competitive, Senator Edgardo J. Angara, chairman of the Senate finance committee, sought on Friday the increase of teachers’ pay to P21,293 a month (salary grade 13) or an increase of 77 percent.

This increase in the salary range would hopefully allow government to recruit qualified and competent teachers, Angara, a former Senate president, said.

“By failing to provide attractive compensation, we often lose those already in service. This degrades the quality of education we offer our youth. We have to pull the plug on mediocrity in our bureaucracy, starting with our education system,’’ Angara explained.

Angara, a former University of the Philippines (UP) president, has been at the forefront of education reform in the country, authoring laws like the Free High School Act, Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE), and the laws creating the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

He said the impact of a higher salary range in the education sector is great and far-reaching.

“Our education is only as good as our teachers. In public schools, we see unqualified teachers repeat formulas and equations from textbooks to perplexed, if not disinterested students. This lack of credentials in many public school teachers has led to a decreasing quality of education in our schools, and as a consequence, the waning competitiveness of our students,” he explained.

A 2006 study conducted by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) revealed a huge gap in the salaries of public sector employees and their counterparts in the private sector.

Government professional and technical personnel earn 40 percent less than those employed in the private sector; this disparity is even greater at the senior manager level, where the difference is as high as 74 percent.

In contrast Filipino teachers who migrate abroad receive 10 times the salary they get in the country, he said.

“This has led to the exodus of our best teachers to greener pastures abroad, and those left to teach our children are often inexperienced and unqualified,” he added.