TINIO WARNS OF COMPOUNDING EDUCATION CRISIS AS SCHOOL YEAR OPENS—DEMANDS BUDGET INCREASE AND WAGE HIKE

Rep. Antonio Tinio
ACT Teachers Party-list
June 8, 2026

Today’s school opening will expose the deepening education crisis compounded by multiple, hastily-implemented reforms that burden already overburdened teachers, ACT Teachers Representative Antonio Tinio warned.

“The government has made a deliberate choice to underfund public education. Instead of addressing foundational gaps, the DepEd continues to impose additional responsibilities on teachers stretched to their limits,” Tinio stated.

The crisis is stark: over 145,000 unbuilt classrooms, 150,000 vacant teaching positions, 300,000 unfilled education support personnel posts, and critical shortages in textbooks and learning materials.

Tinio criticized the simultaneous implementation of multiple reforms without pilot testing. The new three-term school calendar shifts from four grading periods to three, significantly altering academic planning and instructional scheduling. “The DepEd decided to implement the new calendar starting tomorrow with no pilot run. Major changes like this require careful preparation,” Tinio said.

The compressed calendar leaves only eight to ten days between terms for extracurricular activities, teacher training, and the ARAL (Accelerated Reading Advancement Literacy) Program. “All these activities must be squeezed into just eight to ten days. The question is whether everything can fit,” Tinio noted.

Compounding these challenges is the Strengthened Senior High School Curriculum, which removes core humanities and social sciences subjects. This threatens to displace approximately 35,000 senior high school teachers and 30,000 college faculty members with no government protection or retraining plans.

Tinio also exposed the fiscal contradiction: the DepEd received an 8.9 billion peso ARAL allocation, yet substantial portions remain unspent even as teachers work without additional compensation. “This reflects the low priority the administration gives to education,” he explained.

Tinio demanded the Marcos Jr. administration’s immediate action on: increased education budget allocation, accelerated classroom construction, large-scale teacher hiring, and entry-level teacher salaries raised to P50,000.

“Enough is enough. Teachers have borne too much. The time for accountability and wage increases is now—our teachers and students cannot wait any longer,” he concluded.