That screen shot in my pc above was taken from http://www.5.gmanews.tv/photoblog
Winni, the owner of the center where I work told me about a video footage she saw in the news last week. She was not sure whether it was a Friday or a Saturday. The footage showed some teachers having a rally somewhere in Manila. They are celebrating World Teacher’s Day with a rally. Some were holding placards as rallyists often do. When the police officers came to disperse them, they showed that they have a permit to have an assembly in that particular place. Still the police persisted in having the assembly dispersed. Armed with anti-riot paraphernalia, the policemen tried destroying some of the teachers’ audio system. Still the teachers didn’t budge so they used their megaphones instead. Then there was a man who tried to break away from the group to go to the other side of the assembly place.
What happened next?
The policemen ganged up on him and beat him up. Several teachers came to his rescue but still they, the cops, continued beating him up, along with those who went to rescue him. Those are what Winni witnessed in the said footage. I did not witness the said video but judging from what Winni told me, I believe her.
Letting my fingers do some work, I found out that the man was Fidel Fababier. Click here to see another photo of the incident. Fidel Fababier is no ordinary teacher. He used to be the Secretary-General of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers. Now he is with ASSERT or Action and Solidarity for the Empowerment of Teachers. I do not know this person but as a teacher myself, I feel bad with what they went through and are going through.
These public school teachers have suffered multiple wounds, not just on the body but with the spirit and soul too. They teach 50-60, sometimes even more, students cramped in hot and uncomfortable classrooms. Those who teach in the province walk several kilometers just so they could reach the schools where they are assigned. They make do with whatever resources they have, or don’t have, in their quest to impart knowledge to a group hot, hungry, and uncomfortable class. Sometimes they even spend classes under trees or in open spaces since there are insufficient classrooms available. Three to four students share one textbook. In short, they are overworked and very much so underpaid.
Is it any wonder that they have rallies to be able to voice out their concerns to deaf ears? Is it any wonder why they will sell their soul just so they could teach abroad? Is it any wonder why they will work as domestic helpers abroad to help their families? Is it any wonder why our education system is lagging behind?
But I wonder why we don’t raise hell with these conditions that our teachers go through but raise a ruckus when a TV sitcom tells something insulting pertaining to “some med school in the Philippines”. Sure, those words really hurt but…
Our teachers’ situation is not a TV sitcom. It is our reality.
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 11th, 2007 at 4:08 pm and is filed under Being a (Special Ed) Teacher, In the News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
) so many media exposure of giving of hundreds of thousands of pesos given to government officials, elected or appointed then I heard last night over the AM radio that some teachers who served in the elections were still not paid in full! Idinaan sa gives, kung ilan, I don’t have any idea. Maryosep naman yan! Grabe!