MANILA, (PNA) — A lawmaker is seeking to institutionalize the granting of free post-secondary education in state universities and colleges to dependent children of public school teachers in elementary and secondary levels.
Rep. Antonio Tinio (Party-list, ACT Teachers), author of House Bill 441, said, the government can provide substantial economic relief for teachers by shouldering the educational needs of the children of public school teachers.
Tinio said the government failed to promote and improve the economic status of public school teachers and their living and working conditions since the enactment of the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers in 1966 or Republic Act 4670.
“Teachers have been waiting in vain for the benefits intended to somehow ease their hardships. Benefits are denied them, simply because of lack of funds,” Tinio said.
Tinio said during the 2011 budget deliberations, officials from the Department of Education (DepEd) admitted their hands were tied that many Magna Carta benefits cannot be promptly and regularly granted because of a perennial budget shortfall.
Tinio said through the non-wage benefit in the form of free tuition and other school fees for their dependent children, “the economic condition of teachers will be uplifted.”
“A similar intention is behind the comparable benefit given to barangay officials since 1991 in the Local Government Code, but the coverage mandated in this bill is broader, and that it provides free education in not only state universities and colleges but also public technical and vocational schools,” Tinio said.
Under the measure, public elementary and high school teachers shall be exempt from paying tuition and other fees for one dependent child attending any state university or college, or public technical or vocational schools under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
If both spouses are public school teachers, the exemption shall apply to two dependent children.
The bill provides that the public school teachers’ children should meet the minimum requirements of the educational institutions in which they wish to enter and study.