TEACHER’S APPETITE TOWARDS TEACHING

We cannot survive in our day to day living unless we eat food. Can you imagine our life without food? Life might be horrible and miserable without it. Someone might think to put their life to an end rather than living without it. Food is an essential part of everyone’s lives. It’s our basic necessity. It gives us the energy and nutrients to grow and develop, be healthy and ACTIVE, TO MOVE, WORK, and PLAY, THINK and LEARN.

What if food is available and sufficient and yet you don’t have an appetite to eat? How about that? The absence of food might be a problem even a threat to one’s life however, its presence might also be an issue when you lost your appetite to eat. What seems to be the problem if one loss his/her appetite? What are the root cause of decreasing one’s appetite?

Actually, there are lots of causes of decreasing an appetite. Physical sickness is one of those many causes. Likewise, eating disorder is another thing. However, there is still another cause of losing appetite and that is Psychological causes such as BOREDOM and STRESS.

Let us have a quick definition of these two important terms in which we can relate it to the teaching profession that we are in. According to Webster dictionary, BOREDOM is defined as the state of being weary and restless through lack of interest while STRESS is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very DEMANDING CIRCUMSTANCES. It is stated definitely that the two aforementioned terms affects the two parts of man which is the body (physical) and the soul (psychological with 3 parts; mind, emotion and will). These might be the hindrances or reasons why someone loses his/her appetite not only in eating but might as well in undertaking our day to day tasks as teachers.

Recent cases of suicidal acts among the teachers happened because of some reasons. These might be STRESS at workplace and even ANXIETY as well as DEPRESSION. These have been caused by heavy workload. Education Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla in her interview at PHILSTAR GLOBAL she said, “We need professional advice and (psychological and spiritual) guidance and we will engage with external partners to provide assistance to our teachers like a hotline for them to call when they are (teachers) depressed or have anxiety,” DepEd will also work to ensure that the mental health of teachers and other education stakeholders are RECOGNIZED AND WELL TAKEN CARE OF, according to Sevilla. “We have to be responsive to the needs related to this – the implementing rules and regulations of the mental health law is ongoing, support system of teachers need to be strengthened, more de-stressing activities, find hobbies or interests,” she added.

That statements were definitely considered as VITAMINS for teacher’s appetite towards teaching. To be RECOGNIZED AND WELL TAKEN CARE OF are sweet words and good to hear for teacher’s benefit. I hope that this thing will come into reality.

Moreover, there is an article which was published last October 6, 2018 by Marie Tonette Grace Marticio in Manila Bulletin. Let me share this to you. ORMOC City – Education Secretary Leonor Briones said Friday that teachers under the Department of Education (DepEd) will receive bonuses and higher allowances, but NOT a SALARY INCREASE, this year. Briones, making the announcement during the World Teacher’s Day celebration in this city, said that the public school teachers would receive P3, 000 as anniversary bonus in December, and their cash allowance would increase from P3, 500 to P5, 000 before the year ends.

The education Official explained that the government cannot afford to increase teachers’ salaries. She said that the DepEd’s budget is P527 billion, of which P350 billion goes to the salaries of the teachers. She said the department would need another P350 billion to increase the entry level salary from P20, 179 to P39, 000, which the government cannot afford.

“It’s not a question only of increasing the level of the teachers’ salaries, which is the biggest army, bigger than the combined strength of the military. But if we raise their salaries, we have to raise the salaries of everybody else in the government,” Briones said.

“While we think of the personal needs of our teachers, we have to also think of the rest of the economy. We also have to think of the rest of Filipinos and we have to prosper together,” she added.

In my own opinion, bonuses and allowances are the privileges of the teachers that the government need to provide. Teacher’s salary is another thing that the government should take into consideration too. If they made it happened to the military forces and police to increase their salary, why is it difficult for the government to contemplate with the increase of teacher’s salary? Where are the sweet words, “RECOGNIZED AND WELL TAKEN CARE OF?” Isn’t it that these two professions were came into existence and produced by the teachers? In the same reason, without the teachers of before and today, we cannot have that group of individuals who will focus on protecting people and their properties.

Teacher’s cases of suicidal acts are mainly the effects of how teachers were less prioritize when it comes to public service. Too much workloads, heavy burden in taking care of the student’s welfare and a slow to low increase in salary are mainly the causes of these cases.

I think, the teacher’s appetite in teaching would happen somehow if the government will provide the basic needs of teacher. It is true and it cannot also be denied that the teachers are optimist when it comes to the future of the students, hardworking, patient, endured every circumstances in school and in family life, and flexible in all things. However, it doesn’t always be the basis of teacher’s appetite in teaching. There is something that the government should do in order to increase the teacher’s appetite towards teaching. But the questions are, how and when this thing would turn into reality. The government’s stance is unacceptable to teacher’s perspective about this but it is how they consider things as essential and necessary.