March 29, 2024

Benguet has hired 147 teachers under its Provincial School Board (PSB) fund to augment personnel in its various public schools.

Gov. Melchor Diclas said the newly hired teachers will be assigned to 80 elementary and secondary public schools in the 13 towns of the province for the school year 2022-2023.

Diclas said the School Board-hired teachers will receive a P15,000 monthly honorarium and whose contract will end by December. He said the teachers can renew their contracts every January as funds are given on a calendar-year basis. 

This year’s batch of PSB teachers has the highest number since the start of the program. Last year, 60 teachers were hired while less than 25 were hired the previous years.

Department of Education-Cordillera Director Estela Cariño earlier encouraged local government units to continue giving support to teachers in their respective school’s divisions using the School Board fund.

She said although there are many applicants, there is still a lack of teaching items under the DepEd.

The present ratio of teacher-student in Benguet is one is to 30 in the elementary and one is to 50 to 60 students in the secondary especially for big population schools.

DepEd-Cordillera data shows the region needs 53 more teachers from kindergarten to grade six, 397 more for junior high,  and 842 more for senior high schools.

The numbers are the ideal for the region, where the terrain makes it challenging for the teachers, especially in far-flung schools.

Meanwhile, Diclas issued an executive order declaring Sept. 30 as a special day for all teachers and non-teaching staff in celebration of Teacher’s Day. This is in line with Ordinance 20-266, declaring the last Friday of September each year as Teacher’s Day in the province. – Ofelia C. Empian