THE national government intends to enlist an additional 234,542 teachers and health professionals over the next few years to build up public schools and improve the delivery of medical services, United Nationalist Alliance Rep. Luis Campos Jr. of Makati City said on Sunday.
“We are releasing these figures to help graduating high-school students, as well as first- and second-year college students decide on what courses they may take or shift to, if they are considering future employability in the public sector as a factor,” Campos said.
He said the Department of Education (DepEd) is set to hire a total of 181,980 teachers starting this year until 2020.
Beginning this year until 2022, Campos said the Department of Health is also looking to recruit a total of 52,562 health practitioners, or 39,466 nurses; 3,288 pharmacists; 2,862 medical technologists; 2,497 universal health-care implementers; 2,424 physicians; 1,114 dentists and 911 public health associates.
“The fastest-growing profession in the years ahead will be teaching, as the DepEd steps up hiring to cope with the demands of a rapidly expanding public-school system. The need for mathematics and science teachers, in particular, will be exceptionally strong,” Campos, a deputy minority leader, said.
This year alone the DepEd is spending P15.5 billion to fill up 53,831 new teaching positions.
Excluding benefits and allowances, classroom teachers in public schools now receive a monthly salary ranging from P19,077 for entry-level Teacher I (Salary Grade 11, Step 1) to P39,768 for Master Teacher III (Salary Grade 20, Step 1).
These pay rates will increase every year until they reach P20,754 for Teacher 1 and P51,155 for Master Teacher III starting January 1, 2019, under Executive Order 201 of 2016, according to Campos.