Oct. 30, 2014, 1:31 p.m. – THE COMPENSATION of affected
employees of higher education institutions due to the implementation of K to 12
should be the same as their previous salaries, the Commission on Higher
Education (CHEd) said in a meeting Wednesday.
CHEd Commissioner Cynthia Rose Bautista explained that the
monthly compensation of P30,000 and P15,000 for displaced teaching personnel
and non-teaching personnel, respectively, that were earlier announced, were
only estimations.
“We only came up with P15,000 because that is the average
[salary] of the administrative staff, and P30,000 for the faculty,” Bautista
said. “Kung ano ang salary mo [before your displacement] ‘yun ang makukuha mo.”
Last June, CHEd, together with the Department of Education,
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and the Department of
Labor and Employment, proposed a P29-billion stabilization fund that will
compensate teaching and non-teaching employees who will lose their jobs during
the transition period of the K to 12 scheme in 2016.
Raquel Tan Rapirap of the Far Eastern University
Non-Teaching Employees Union said CHEd was being unfair.
“The appropriation of funds between P15,000 versus
P30,000 is a very blatant discrimination,” Rapirap said. “If the faculty
member is receiving P30,000, why not give the same privilege to the
non-teaching staff because they will also lose their jobs?”
House Committee on Higher and Technical Education Chairman
and Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo said CHEd’s proposed Tertiary Education Sector
Transition Fund would only cover the actual salaries of axed employees for two
years—the length of time expected for them to find new jobs.
“The bottomline is, kung ano ang kinikita mo, ‘yun ang
ibibigay nila sa‘yo monthly, for two years, under the stabilization fund,” said
Romulo. Dayanara T. Cudal
With a proper implementation of RA 10533, no need for contingencies like this, I mean it can be given enough time to prepare. Do you really believe that the government will allot that big amount?
What is proper implementation? Begin from Kinder, that’s why it is “K to 12”! Do we violate the Act if we begin from Kinder? Beginning from kinder gives more time, more years until 2024, for the government to prepare everything, without violating RA 10533.
That is why, K to 12 shall “encompass” all stages, from Kinder, to grade school, to high school, “in that sequence”. (Section 4 of RA 10533)