[ 3 Jun 2013 | No Comment ]

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PRESS RELEASE
3 June 2013
Reference: ACT TEACHERS Party-List Representative Antonio Tinio (09209220817)
ACT TEACHERS Party-List Representative Antonio Tinio hit as premature the Aquino administration’s claim of “zero backlog” in textbooks this new school year and in teachers and classrooms by end of 2013, saying actual conditions which greeted students yesterday belied it.
Schools and divisions nationwide predict that they will still be in the “hot zones” this 2013, meaning large resource gaps in classrooms, teachers, and other basic inputs.
In DepEd’s Basic Education Information System, “hot colors” range from yellow to red and black, …

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[ 4 Jun 2013 | No Comment ]
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PBB Guideline DO No. 12, s. 2013 (click to view and download the file)

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[ 4 Jun 2013 | No Comment ]
june 3

Bisita Eskwela at Pagkilos sa harap ng Dep Ed. June 3 2013 (click to view the video)

june 3

References: Mr.Benjie Valbuena,  ACT Chairperson
                     0916.229.4515
                     Ms. Zeni Lao, Media Liason
                     0919.819.9890, 0917.499.8608
 
TEACHERS PROTEST PERRENIAL PROBLEMS IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM
Unresolved!
Teachers and parents are dismayed with the recurring problems in our education system that our government disregards.
“The government concocts policies and programs that never solve the main problem. The Aquino government implemented the K to 12 or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 (R.A. 10533)despite the fact that shortages still exist,” Mr. Benjamin Valbuena, ACT Chairperson said.
“Balik-eskwela,  balik problema at mas lumalalang problema.”Mr. Valbuena added.
 Almost 23.9 million enrollees will troop to school today, June 3, 2013. Again they will encounter the perennial problems of our education system that is unresolved up to now by the Aquino government.
President Aquino boasts that he is a “pro-education” advocate but it doesn’t show. Still there are shortages of classrooms: 32,644, teachers: 46,567, chairs: 2,500,000, textbooks: 60 million and water & sanitation facilities: 80,937. These are the basic needs of our education system.  Instead of addressing these problems on a social service which is education, the government allocates higher budget for Debt Servicing.
Since 2001 until now, 2013, the government repeatedly violated what the UNESCO set as international standard for education budget, which should be at least 6% of the GDP of the country. This is what our government allocated to the education sector:
Year
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
DepEd budget
90B
105B
106B
110B
112B
122B
137B
149B
174B
175B
207B
238B
P295B
% share of Deped Budget to GDP
2.5%
2.8%
2.5%
2.3%
2.1%
2.0%
2.1%
2.0%
2.3%
2.8%
2.6%
2.3%
2.5%
According to the ACT TEACHERS Party-list, it is ideal that every barangay should have at least one high school. Citing Deped figures, there were only 7,268 public high schools throughout the country in 2011 compared to 38,351public elementary schools. This shows that there is one public high school for every five elementary schools which therefore imply that 4.6 million children cannot enter high school.  This then becomes part of the 6.24 million out-of-school youth in our country.
“ Instead of building new schools to help solve the problem of the out-of-school youth, the Aquino government increased the budget of Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE,” Mr. Valbuena commented.  He urged the Aquino administration prioritize education as an important social service and allot the needed budget for this.

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[ 30 May 2013 | 2 Comments ]

PRESS STATEMENT: May 29, 2013

Reference: Mr. Benjie Valbuena, ACT Chairperson (09162294515)
Media Liaison: Ms. Zeni Lao (09198198903,09174998608)

Teachers on Pnoy’s K-to-12 and” bright future” for Filipino children, “wishful thinking”

President Aquino recently signed a law on adding three extra years to the country’s 10-year basic education curriculum in a bid to make Filipino students at par with their peers in other countries.

Aquino said Republic Act No. 10533 institutionalizes a system of education that “truly imbues our youth with the skills they need to pursue their dreams.”

By signing this bill into law, we are not just adding two years of additional learning for our students; we are making certain that the coming generations are empowered to strengthen the very fabric of our society, as well as our economy,” he told lawmakers, Cabinet officials, diplomats and students.

“But teachers, students and parents said that everything about K12 is what Pnoy is as President of our country: ill-prepared and incompetent,” Mr. Benjie Valbuena said.

A case in point is the Universal Kindergarten Program. We lack trained teachers and there are still volunteer teachers who have not received their allowances last school year.

Grade 7 and Grade 8 teachers attest that aside from the modules for vocational trainings,equipment’s/tools for electrical, carpentry, and the like are not available. Classrooms for such trainings are non-existent. Teachers are challenged to be innovative but how can they impart skills when basic tools are unavailable in the first place?

“Imagine” is the buzz word for voc-tech teachers when lecturing or in supposed workshops sessions with students because equipment and tools for voc-tech subjects are grossly insufficient, Mr.Benjie Valbuena, Chairperson of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) said.

“The President’s dream for globally competitive Filipinos is plain and simple, wishful thinking. Pnoy’s K12 must be junked!” Mr.Benjie Valbuena ended.#####