I’m sure we all understand the importance of school and education, it nurtures our minds and teaches us great things so that we can grow to become great citizens and work great jobs. However, since the pandemic happened, the education system has gone topsy-turvy, with the unfamiliarity of online learning and this new method of education, a lot of teachers have been intimidated — understandably so — and a lot of students have become uninterested in classes because of this new method of learning.

School has given us many opportunities to make friends, learn new things, do fun activities, play and it is very important to the development of our minds. School helps us to learn about the basic fundamentals of life, develop our skills and find our paths in lives. It is however a very flawed system, and with the health crisis affecting the whole world, it has become much more flawed and difficult to function in.

The problems

- Inadequate Classrooms
- Minimum wage and overworked teachers
- Gender inequality
- Overpopulation of Students in the public school systems

Education during the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t been the greatest quality. In face-to-face, there are many great opportunities to teach students, from physical games to create memorable lessons to interactive activities to engage students. Although that is all possible right now even at home, it is evident that students have grown to be non-interactive and inactive in classes. Teachers have to go through the extra mile to check up on their students and to make sure that their students are actively participating in classes and learning something from their teachings. In online schooling, there are fewer restrictions and little to no supervision of the students. Teachers have even lesser time to destress in their homes and even if they are in the comfort of their homes, they must continue to work.

Despite all the efforts that teachers have made in order to teach their students effectively, teachers, nonetheless, still receive inadequate salaries. Not much about their salaries have changed drastically even during this pandemic that demands much more finances in order to support yourself in this time of need. Especially with the rising gas prices and inflation being present in each store; the wages that teachers — the people that pass important knowledge and information to the youth of our nations — receive is simply not enough and not what teachers deserve. Teacher salaries in the Philippines range from 14,300 PHP per month (minimum salary) to 49,500 PHP per month. 14,000 a year is not as big as you think it is. Electricity bills, water bills, wifi, phone bills, food, monthly necessities, and leisure products all added up could not mean merely ten thousand pesos or more is spent within a year. As much as saving and cutting down costs can benefit you, it won’t get you anywhere if your job only gives so much in a year despite all your hard work. It’s so much more than just a personal problem, it’s a systemic problem that benefits the rich and does not acknowledge the hard work of the poor and hungry teachers. Not only is the minimum wage a problem but there is also a gender inequality issue in the teaching workforce. According to SalaryExplorer.com Male Teacher employees in the Philippines earn 15% more than their female counterparts on average. Female teachers are shown to earn 29,0000 Philippine pesos while male teachers earn 33.000 Philippine pesos.

With the current health crisis, minimum wage, already present poverty in the Philippines added up with gender inequality I can’t imagine just how hard it is to get by as a teacher. There is a serious problem in the education system in the Philippines and we have to fix it because the education system is highly beneficial to the economy and to our future generations. If the education system keeps going downhill because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be serious consequences in the future.

Solutions

- Raising minimum wage
- Pursuing full employment
- Closing gender inequities
- Give teachers more time for Teaching rather than administrative work
- Fund for classrooms
- Strengthen government subsidy for public schools students

Ultimately, the reason for inadequate funding is because of lack of employment rates, if there are a lack of teachers in the schools, there is, of course, a lack of money to put into funding for classrooms and mental health services for teachers, so most of all, the schools really need to pursue full employment before everything else.

Therefore, to successfully better the state of public schools and its classrooms, we need to put effort into closing gender inequities, raising the minimum wage, updating overtime rules, pursuing full employment, legalizing undocumented workers, and increasing workers’ bargaining power.