Public school teachers challenged on Saturday Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Armin Luistro to prioritize teachers’ welfare in his programs, noting that any reform move that does not put the teachers in paramount consideration would not work.

Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC), a 30,000-strong group, said the teachers’ welfare need to be prioritized or DepEd “will just waste money and effort in introducing reform programs.” TDC praised the statement made by Luistro during the turnover ceremony in DepEd wherein he paraphrased, in his speech, the famous inaugural line of President Aquino – “kayo ang boss ko” – into “ang mga batang Pilipino (Filipino youth) ang boss ko,” giving emphasis to the children-centered administration of the education department.

“Education must always be learner-centered,” agreed TDC national chairperson Benjo Basas, “however, it should not be at the expense of the teachers and other education workers.”

The group also reacted to the President’s 10-point agenda for education which according to teachers, are purely focused on the delivery of quality education but has no mention of teachers’ welfare. “No amount of input in education would be enough if the investment for teachers’ professional and socio-economic development is inadequate,” said Basas.

Meanwhile, although the “batang Pinoy” is the boss at DepEd, Luistro assured that the welfare of the teachers remain a major priority under his leadership.

“At the heart of education are the teachers so we need to take good care of them,” Luistro said during a press briefing on Friday. H  said teachers should be given what is due to them, but “we should also be realistic to other needs in uplifting the quality of education in the country.”

Based on the data presented by DepEd, public elementary and secondary schools have 501,158 teachers in the national level. “For this school year, there were additional 10,000 teachers but for the next school year [2011-2012], we will request for an additional 120, 230 to meet the national ratio of 1:36,” Luistro said.

Luistro lauded local government units (LGUs) that have allocated budget to hire local teachers. “They are a big help and hopefully, the teachers who are funded by the local government units will be supported continuously. May the LGUs increase their number to address the needs of teachers,” he said.

He said if the LGUs continue to support locally-paid teachers and the national government until after a bigger budget has been allocated to the DepEd, the need for teachers who will be funded by DepEd National may be trimmed down to 34,000 within the next two years.

Basas, also a Caloocan City teacher, said the TDC continuously lobbies for higher compensation package, shorter work hours and better working conditions for teachers, which they said is the single most important factor in achieving quality education.

TDC officials said they want to meet with Luistro to particularly discuss his position on the teacher-related issues such as swift resolution to problems of public school teachers in their dealings with the Government Service Insurance System; strict implementation of the welfare provision of Magna Carta for Public School Teachers enacted in 1966; allocation of greater budget to address the growing shortages in public school system; upgrading of entry-level position of public school teachers from Salary Grade 11 to at least Salary Grade 14; relief of teachers from hazardous non-teaching related assignments such as compulsory election duties and census enumeration; and contractualization of public school teachers.