OPINION: Teachers are celebrated for a day, underpaid the rest of the year

Private-school salaries remain far below public-school pay as teachers face long hours, heavy workloads, and staffing gaps.

Teacher’s Day may be a day to appreciate teachers, but the celebration does little to change the reality many face once they return to the classroom, where long hours, administrative work, and rising living costs remain part of the job.

The problem is more evident in private schools, where salaries can fall far below what public school teachers receive.

A 2023 survey by the Alliance of Concerned Teachers Private Schools found that more than three in five private-school teachers earned below the then-entry-level public school salary of ₱27,000, while the most common starting salaries were only ₱10,000 to ₱12,500 and ₱12,500 to ₱15,000 per month.

ACT Private Schools said in 2025 that the average salary of a private-school teacher in Metro Manila was only ₱17,500 per month, with salaries dropping even lower in the provinces.

Public school teachers have seen salary increases, but the profession is still dealing with heavy workloads and staffing gaps.

UNESCO’s latest global data found that teachers spend an average of 19 hours a week in the classroom but work around 60 hours in total once preparation, marking, and administrative tasks are included.

Meanwhile, the staffing problem also became more complicated in the proposed 2027 budget after the Department of Education’s request for another 14,274 teaching positions, which would have required ₱4.29 billion, was not included in the National Expenditure Program.

DepEd and DBM later clarified that this does not mean teachers cannot be hired in 2027, since ₱31.22 billion has been set aside to fill 64,530 already authorized teaching positions, including 31,614 existing vacancies and the 32,916 positions created in 2026.

The government is also trying to reduce the workload, with 22,268 non-teaching positions approved in 2026 to provide administrative support in schools.

Public-school teachers are also set to receive the fourth tranche of the government’s salary adjustment, raising the basic monthly pay of a Teacher I from ₱31,705 in 2026 to ₱33,387 in 2027, alongside a proposed ₱10,000 annual teaching allowance and billions of pesos for teacher benefits.

Those measures provide some relief, but the salary gaps in private schools, unfilled teaching positions, and the workload that extends well beyond classroom hours show that teacher welfare cannot be addressed by celebrating the profession once a year.

Teacher’s Day can recognize what teachers do, but they are still yearning for a system that gives them enough pay and support not just for one day, but all year round.