‘Chalk allowance’ buys only 3 pieces of cheapest chalk

With the current P700 annual chalk allowance, a public school teacher gets roughly P3.50 a day – equivalent to around three pieces of the cheapest chalk available in a leading bookstore. GMA News Online surveyed the online catalogue of a leading bookstore and found that their least expensive box of chalk costs P11.75 per dozen, or almost P1 each. Considering that the chalk allowance covers other instructional materials as well, how then should a public school teacher spend the P3.50-a-day allowance that the Department of Education (DepEd) gives each of them? The government’s supposedly inadequate financial assistance had prompted teachers to petition the DepEd to hike the chalk allowance to P2,000, with them even holding a “National Chalk Holiday" last Friday.

But in an interview with GMA News Online at the sidelines of the Senate hearing on DepEd’s proposed 2012 budget, Education Secretary Armin Luistro likened the chalk allowance to a “bonus" on top of the resources that the DepEd already provides. “That does not mean that every single chalk comes from the chalk allowance," Luistro said. “Para ‘yang rice subsidy. ‘Pag nagbigay ang isang kumpanya ng rice subsidy, hindi naman ibig sabihin na doon lang ako kakain, na manggagaling sa subsidy." The secretary said teachers can also get instructional materials from their respective schools, not only from the chalk allowance. “The schools have budgets," he said. ‘Not enough’ The DepEd has proposed a P300-increase in “chalk allowance," but a party-list lawmaker said this is not enough. “The national government must put an end to our public school teachers’ long-standing burden of providing teaching supplies out of their own pockets," said ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio in a statement Friday. Shortages have been a recurring problem in the Philippines, with public schools reporting a dire lack of classrooms, chairs, desks, and textbooks at the beginning of the school year. — KBK, GMA News