Teachers here in our country are considered to be one of the professions that do not make a ton of fortune. This year, teachers in public schools which are 720, 000 in total will receive two bonuses which are the 13th and 14th month pay by yearend.
Public school teachers who have the basic salary of P19, 077 are in the line of the following perks: a minimum of P5, 000 bonus which is based on performance (PBB); a yearend bonus worth P19, 077; P5, 000 in cash gift and another P5, 000 as productivity enhancement incentive (PEI) according to Teacher’s Dignity Coalition chair Benjo Basas.
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But teachers who stand to receive the maximum amount of P35, 000 in performance-based bonus can get the maximum amount of P64, 000. “This is an unprecedented amount,” Basas said, attributing the increase in part to the significant increase in teachers’ basic salaries.
“The PBB, year-end bonus and cash gift will all be released this month while the PEI will be given in December,” Basas mentioned.
Under the Salary Standardization Law-3, the performance based-bonus (PBB) incentive allows teachers and some other employees eligible for it stand to receive a bonus ranging from P5, 000 to P35, 000 which solely depends on the performance of their school and its employees for a fiscal year.
According to Basas, only about 2% of DepEd’s teaching force could get the maximum amount of PBB. On November 3, DepEd Secretary Briones assured the TDC that the PBB will be released this month (November) and that the total YEB will be released before the end of this year.
Taking all of these bonuses and incentives, last year, an entry-level teacher got a total of P16, 774 in bonuses while about a small number of teachers received the maximum amount of P46, 744, Basas said.
Now, being a teacher is not all about making money; it’s not about getting a very lucrative pay every month. Teachers do not yearn to become millionaires or such because they can expect firsthand that their profession is not a money-making machine. What good to they get, you may ask. Well, the nobility that they earn from teaching other people what they know is the main price of their careers.
Imagine, if you are a teacher and you see your student becoming the president of our nation, wouldn’t that make you proud? Teachers should always be followed because they are duly put in that position for a reason. They undergo tests and exams just for them to push through to teach students like us.
This year, teachers should expect a more merry Christmas because of the bonuses they are ought to receive before the year ends.
