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Scientists and advocates of science alike are never removed from their society. Hence, our study of science and application of technology are implied as acts of social responsibility.

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Scientists and advocates of science alike are never removed from their society. Hence, our study of science and application of technology are implied as acts of social responsibility.

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Make science and technology serve the people! #SNT4P

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As they endlessly wait for measures for national industrialization and genuine land reform, helpless farmers are forced to sponge up the drastic repercussions brought about by climate change and economic regression. Unfortunately, the violence and negligence of the state are also forces that they still struggle to reckon with up to this day.

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Aside from off-loading administrative chores, the Department of Education is also looking into giving 'non-basic wage' benefits to teachers to augment their salaries

MANILA, Philippines - In a bid to "upgrade" teaching standards of basic education in the country, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte is eyeing to take out administrative tasks from teachers so they could focus more on teaching.

This plan was bared by Michael Poa, spokesperson of the Department of Education (DepEd), during the joint press briefing with the Office of the Vice President (OVP) held on Wednesday, July 27, at the DepEd Central Office in Pasig City.

"What will happen is that, our department headed by the Vice President and Secretary Sara Duterte is planning to ease off the administrative tasks from teachers because we noticed that aside from teaching, they also have administrative tasks," Poa said in a mix of English and Filipino, when asked about Duterte's plans for the welfare of teachers.

"Our plan for now, we need to upskill our teachers. To complement that, we will perhaps have to hire non-teaching staff to handle those things, at least for the teachers," he added.

In a statement, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers welcomed Duterte's plan. But the group said that aside from non-teaching personnel handling administrative tasks, the DepEd should also provide all schools with their own nurses, registrars, custodians, clerks, librarians, security guards and utility workers.

"In the absence of these, teachers were forced to take on these functions that has considerably taken a lot of their time and effort from teaching," ACT said.

ACT is an organization composed of some 300,000 public and private school teachers in the country.

For years, teachers have complained of paperwork piling up that hinders them from preparing lessons.

Duterte's plan for the welfare of teachers was asked during the press briefing because this was not mentioned during the first State of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last Monday, July 25. Though the President mentioned "promising" plans for the education recovery, teachers' welfare was left out.

Non-basic wage benefits

Aside from off-loading administrative tasks, Poa said that DepEd was also looking into giving "non-basic wage" benefits to teachers to augment their salaries. The DepEd spokesperson explained that increasing the basic salary of teachers might affect the manpower of the private education sector so they need to balance it out.

"If we make it too high, it will really affect the private sector because teachers might transfer from private sector to the government. Or, baka hindi kayanin ng private sector tapatan, baka magsara 'yung private sector (Or, the private sector might not be able to match the salary of the public schools and they might close down)," Poa said.

Poa added the salaries of teachers are covered by the government's salary standardization law, which "modifies the salary schedule for civilian personnel and authorizes the grant of additional benefits," including the public school teachers.

"For now, because of the Salary Standardization Law, with the increases imposed since 2019 and I think the last tranche will be in 2023, teachers' salaries have been rising. To the point na there is data that their salary is actually already better than their counterparts in the private sector," Poa said in a mix of English and Filipino.

An entry level salary for a public school teacher, with a salary grade 11, is at P25,439. For years, teacher have been fighting for better compensation. When schools in the country shifted to remote learning in 2020, some teachers needed to shoulder from their own pockets the printing cost of learning modules. (READ: Help! These schools need bond paper, printers for students' learning modules)

Poa offered no details on what kind and how much allowances the DepEd was considering for the teachers. "I don't want to preempt whatever study on the non-basic wage benefits the DepEd is looking," he said.

'Worn out excuse'

Reacting to DepEd's plan for the teachers' salaries, ACT said that the agency's excuse that private schools might close down if they would increase the pay of public school teachers was "old and worn out."

"Lower salaries of teachers in private schools do not justify the low salaries for public school teachers. This only shows how destitute teachers are in this country, more so in the private sector," ACT said.

As of 2019, there are over 800,000 public school teachers in the country. - Rappler.com

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To focus on teaching, DepEd eyes to remove admin tasks from teachers

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Aside from off-loading administrative chores, the Department of Education is also looking into giving 'non-basic wage' benefits to teachers to augment their salaries MANILA, Philippines - In a bid to "upgrade" teaching standards of basic education in the country, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte is eyeing to take out administrative tasks from teachers so they could focus more on teaching.

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Gusto ba ng farmer 'yong research? Hindi ba gusto nila tulungan n'yo sila?

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The quality of informing and educating the public essentially relies on the kind of examples leaders set. When those in power deem themselves above the law, a culture of impunity is set in motion... and it trickles down to the least of us.

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Indeed, in the absence of a clear treatment, laypersons, politicians, and doctors alike turn to the notion of resistensya that allows people to act on a largely-unknown illness that carries unknown outcomes.

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In a vlog posted on Facebook, President Bongbong Marcos seconds the obligation of the government to develop more students adept in mathematics and science. With Vice President Sara Duterte appointed as secretary of the Department of Education, his administration has yet to formulate specific actions acknowledging and mitigating the ongoing educational crisis in the country.

On August 22, a new academic year is set to open in public schools.

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© Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, 2020

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MANILA, Philippines - A visibly irked Senator Cynthia Villar did not mince her words when she found out a huge part of the Agriculture department's National Corn Program will be allocated for research.

"Parang lahat ng inyong budget puro research? Baliw na baliw kayo sa research. Aanhin niyo ba yung research?" Villar said Wednesday during the Senate budget hearing for the Department of Agriculture (DA) and its attached agencies.

(It seems like all of your budget goes to research. You are so crazy about research. What will you do with those research?)

"Ako matalino akong tao pero hindi ko maintindihan yung research niyo, lalo na yung farmer. Gusto ba ng farmer yung research? Hindi ba gusto nila tulungan niyo sila? Bakit ba lahat ng budget niyo research?" she added.

(I'm a smart person but I don't understand your research, what more of the farmers. Does a farmer want research? Don't they want you to help them? Why is it that all of your budget goes to research?)

Under the National Corn Program's proposed budget for 2020, P150 million was allocated for research.

"Ayusin niyo 'to. Imagine calamity assistance P265 million? P150 million ang research? Eh 'di P400 million na yon?" Villar lamented.

(Fix this. Imagine, calamity assistance for P265 million? P150 million for research? That's P400 million already.)

If she were a farmer, Villar stressed she would prefer to receive seeds or machineries above anything else.

"Kung ako farmer, mas gusto ko nang bigyan ako ng seeds, bigyan ako ng machineries kaysa yung mga kung anu ano," she said.

(If I were a farmer, I would like to be given seeds, be given machineries, instead of whatever.)

For the National Corn Program's part, its national coordinator Lorenzo Carangan said they do give assistance to farmers under their proposed budget in the form of seeds and fertilizers.

"In the case po ng techno[logical] demo[nstration] projects and modern cluster, farmers are being assisted in the form of seeds and fertilizers," Carangan said.

(In the case of technological demonstration projects and modern cluster, farmers are being assisted in the form of seeds and fertilizers.) /jpv

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Villar hits DA for high budget on corn research: 'Baliw na baliw kayo sa research'

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MANILA, Philippines - A visibly irked Senator Cynthia Villar did not mince her words when she found out a huge part of the Agriculture department's National Corn Program will be allocated for research. "Parang lahat ng inyong budget puro research? Baliw na baliw kayo sa research. Aanhin niyo ba yung research?"

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'Hawa' and 'resistensya': local health knowledge and the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines

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'Hawa' and 'resistensya': local health knowledge and the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines

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A research conducted by Gideon Lasco and Michael Tan analyzes the implications of how the Filipino public views the local concepts of hawa and resistensya on shaping public health policies and the treatment of COVID-19 in the Philippines. It presupposes that the apprehension of people toward health and illness is largely shaped by sociocultural phenomena particular in the community.

The full paper may be accessed here.

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Innovation is bred by education. When systems of learning and teaching are compromised, how does a nation innovate?

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Innovation is bred by education. When systems of learning and teaching are compromised, how does a nation innovate?

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There is an oversaturation of infrastructural projects. More than a holistic approach to urban planning, the convoluted networks of roads and bridges often only appear to be band-aid solutions to transportation woes. Feats of engineering are celebrated from one administration to another, but the basic needs and challenges faced by ordinary Filipinos remain unaddressed all the while.

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The 2022 presidential candidate and former Vice President Leni Robredo bared a plan to address the underfunding of research and development in the Philippines. She noted that the percentage of state budget allocation toward research is below average compared to Southeast Asian neighboring countries.

Robredo also expressed an intent to implement a more integrated STEM curriculum, in order to hone the competencies of the workforce in relevant industries such as agriculture and medicine.

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Aspiring president Vice President Leni Robredo has bared her intention to improve the country's funding on research and development, which she plans to use in addressing major issues in key sectors, if she wins the presidency.

Vice President Leni Robredo (OVP photo)

During a townhall meeting with engineers on Tuesday, Jan. 11., Robredo shared her plan, which was modeled from more progressive members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), focusing on higher research and development (R&D) funding and integration of research and education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) into the curriculum of schools.

"Right now, kasi yung budget natin [for R&D] ay .1 percent lang... pero kung tingnan natin yung ASEAN average between .3 to .5 percent. So yun yung gusto natin na habulin na yung minimum na maging R&D budget natin, at .3 percent (our budget for R&D is only at .1 percent...but if you look at the ASEAN average is at between .3 to .5 percent. So, that's what we want to achieve, to increase our R&D budget to .3 percent), " Robredo said.

"Yung pangalawa doon, yung sa education (Second, is on education), to implement a more integrated STEM curriculum. Again, modeled from progressive ASEAN countries from the high school to the tertiary level which is oriented to focused industries," she added.

These industries are agriculture, medicine, community resilience, environment, and energy. These industries, the Vice President said, would be enriched by the creation of regional excellence centers which would improve the skill and competency of the workforce in their respective areas.

The aspiring President also expressed support for the passage of the Open Access to Data Act, which will strengthen the powers of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) "to prevent monopolies and mandate interconnection of data transmission amongst industry players."

She further said the National ID system would have been helpful during the pandemic but because of its slow operationalization, agencies are unable to use its centralized database system.

During the meeting, she also covered topics such as the need to build back better through more resilient communities, especially as many areas affected by Typhoon Odette continue to suffer from the lack of basic necessities such as electricity and water; removing personnel salary caps for health workers at a time of pandemic; and planning the road map of the energy sector to meet its target of being carbon neutral by 2050.

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Robredo to upgrade research and development funding if elected President

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Aspiring president Vice President Leni Robredo has bared her intention to improve the country's funding on research and development, which she plans to use in addressing major issues in key sectors, if she wins the presidency. Vice President Leni Robredo (OVP photo) During a townhall meeting wit

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© Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, 2019

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The Philippines scored lowest among 58 participating countries in a 2019 study that assessed the competencies of Grade 4 students in mathematics and science.

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MANILA, Philippines - A progressive lawmaker has scored the Department of Education (DepEd) for the dismal ratings of Filipino students in an international assessment for mathematics and science.

ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro said the DepEd could not blame previous leaders for the "significantly lower" scores in the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS).

"We attribute this to the DepEd because of its lapses and incompetence, and they should not blame the teachers because they are making up for the DepEd's shortcomings," she said.

Castro made the remarks after Filipino students ranked lowest among 58 countries in the TIMMS, which assessed mathematics and science competency among Grade 4 students.

The Philippines scored 297 in mathematics and 249 in science, which were "significantly lower" compared to other participating countries.

Other countries at the bottom five of the TIMMS were Morocco, Kuwait, South Africa, and Pakistan.

Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.

For feedback, complaints, or inquiries, contact us.

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DepEd blamed for poor PH ranking in math, science

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MANILA, Philippines - A progressive lawmaker has scored the Department of Education (DepEd) for the dismal ratings of Filipino students in an international assessment for mathematics and science. ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro said the DepEd could not blame previous leaders for the "significantly lower" scores in the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS).

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Science and technology—keys toward the advancement of the human race—have long been exploited by higher powers not in the pursuit of authentic development, but only of wealth-driven self-preservation. With our future hanging in the balance, it becomes our mandate to reclaim the potential of science and technology in championing the interests of the masses and the healing of our planet. Stemming from this realization, this project then attempts to capture the crises that mold the harsh present realities of education and research in the Philippines. I believe that as we strategize and fight for a better world, a survey of the social landscape is crucial. Through a curation of images, news articles, and other resources, this project asks: How are science and technology currently framed in the context of national progress?

Hopefully, when one looks back to this project a few years later, circumstances will have changed for the better.