Strengthening inclusive education’s backbone: Yamsuan seeks higher pay for special needs teachers

Parañaque 2nd District Representative Brian Yamsuan is pushing for the passage of a measure that aims to raise the salaries of Special Needs Education (SNed) teachers  to help fill the severe shortage of these educators in public schools.

In Yamsuan’s proposed legislation outlined in House Bill (HB) 5574, the minimum salary grade level of SNed teachers in the elementary and secondary public school system shall be upgraded from Grade 14 (P38,764)  to Grade 16, which is equivalent to a basic monthly pay of P45,694 as of this year, and to P47,829 by 2027.

“Lahat dapat ay pantay-pantay ang oportunidad sa edukasyon, at mangyayari lamang ito kung may sapat tayong mga special needs education teachers sa public schools para sa mga mag-aaral na may disabilities,” Yamsuan said.

(All should have equal opportunities in education, and this will only happen if we have enough special needs education teachers in public schools for students with disabilities.)

Yamsuan also pointed out that while DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara recently  issued interim guidelines on the hiring and promotion of SNed teachers under the current salary grade structure, the revised qualification standards for newly created positions have yet to be released by the Civil Service Commission (CSC).  This means that about 600 new SNed teaching positions created this year by the DepEd cannot be filled unless the CSC concurs with the qualification standards.

“The revised qualification standards for new SNed hires have been pending with the   CSC since April of this year. We are urging the CSC to speed up the process so that the DepEd can begin providing the specialized support that underserved learners with disabilities  (LWDs) need,” he said.

“LWDs are not incapable of learning. They just need the support, care and guidance of dedicated and qualified SNed teachers,” Yamsuan added.

Yamsuan prodded Congress to approve his measure to help bring in more special needs educators to the public school system, where 391,089 LWDs are enrolled, but with less than 6,000 SNed  teachers available for them as of school year 2024-2025.

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A study by the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) reveal that of those already enrolled, only 32 percent have a SNed teacher assigned to their school. The study also found that  three out of four LWDs are mainstreamed into general education classes, often with regular teachers who may be unprepared to provide the required specialized support.

Moreover, the number of LWDs  enrolled in public schools as of school year 2024-2025 represent a critically low 8 percent of the estimated 5.1 million children with disabilities nationwide.

“Promoting inclusive education should not be mere lip service. It should be supported by concrete actions. A SNed teacher cannot effectively teach and guide  LWDs four times the number that he or she can handle, while facing complex demands that go beyond their teaching load, such as designing differentiated instruction, implementing individualized education plans and exploring different sensory and behavioral approaches to help students thrive in a formal school environment,” Yamsuan said.

“Sadly, many SNed teachers have sought better pay, working conditions and professional development opportunities abroad, further widening the gap between teacher supply and learner demand. We hope that the swift passage of our measure will help stem this exodus, and  strengthen the backbone of inclusive education by encouraging more SNEd teachers to teach in our public schools,” he said.

Under HB 5574,  the salary hike of SNEd teachers “shall take priority over other non-educational and non-agricultural budgetary allocations.”

The DepEd is mandated under the bill to draft a specific programmed budget to cover the expenses for the increase in salary levels of all corresponding SNEd teacher plantilla positions for a period of at least five years.  This will allow the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to make the necessary budgetary adjustments to facilitate the smooth implementation of the measure. ###