MORE FILIPINO TEACHERS OFF TO JOBS ABROAD, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 06/26/2009, MANILA, Philippines—The exodus of Filipino teachers to other countries is expected to continue in the coming years, according to a labor group. The Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK) said two places were the likely magnets for Filipino teachers—the United States, which would need two million teachers in the coming decade, and Arab countries, which would need at least 450,000 teachers.
The group said teacher shortages, growing populations, and expanding educational systems in many other countries coupled with the dismal work conditions and salaries at home could push local teachers to go abroad.
“Demand for teachers across the United States continues to remain high even if the North American country’s economy is in a deep recession,” said Annie Enriquez-Geron, PSLINK general secretary.
“There are estimates that the United States will need to employ an additional two million teachers in the coming decade to maintain its current educational standards and closer to three million if it strives to improve them in order to stay globally competitive," she added.
Geron said more than 10,000 foreign teachers are recruited by the United States every year to fill its demand.
“There is also very high demand for new science and math teachers in the US with estimates by the Business-Higher Education Forum in Washington putting the figure at 200,000 at the least," she added.
In the last 10 years, around 4,000 Filipino teachers—mostly math, science, English, and special education teachers—left the country. This figure included only new hires for teaching jobs and did not include those who left the country for work other than teaching, the paper said.
The top destinations were the United States, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, the paper added.
According to a UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) study, Geron said, the Arab states will face “the greatest teacher shortage in the drive to provide every child with a primary education by 2015 as the region will need to raise the current stock by 26 percent and create another 450,000 teaching posts in less than a decade.”
“As more developed countries face a graying workforce, they are increasingly resorting to the recruitment of skilled teachers from less developed countries. This phenomenon had already been foreseen by (European) countries since the ’90s, warning that aging teaching forces may eventually lead to shortages,” Geron said.
“For instance, more than 60 percent of all primary teachers are over 40 years of age in Canada, Italy, and the Netherlands; and more than 40 percent are over 50 years old in Germany and Sweden,” she said.
Geron said another factor contributing to teacher shortages in more developed countries was the declining interest of their nationals in entering the teaching profession.
According to a survey conducted by the temporary staffing agency Manpower Inc., teaching is the second hardest job to fill in the US. Many of their nationals, the study said, would rather pursue other more financially rewarding careers than become a teacher.
Low salary and unattractive working conditions were often cited as reasons not to enter the teaching profession, Geron said. (But for a teacher from a developing nation, salaries would still be significantly more than what they earn at home.)
“Unfortunately, instead of addressing employment conditions of the teaching sector, governments of more developed countries are finding it more convenient and economical to recruit migrant workers, many of whom are offered lower pay and contractual jobs that deprived them of their due benefits,” she added.
Geron said the dependence on migrant skilled teachers in developed countries was leading to aggressive recruitment strategies by their governments, recruitment agencies, and the private schools themselves.
“There have even been governments which have created special agencies just to recruit teachers from other countries. Private teacher recruitment agencies in the United Kingdom have mushroomed to more than 100 while there are more or less 70 in the United States,” she added.
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PAY, CAREER GROWTH PUSH FILIPINO TEACHERS ABROAD
JOSEPH HOLANDES UBALDE, GMANews.TV, June 24, 2009 http://www.gmanews.tv/story/165744/Pay-career-growth-push-Filipino-teach...
WHERE'S MA'AM? Filipino students are said to be the real casualties in the migration of highly-qualified Filipino teachers to more career-rewarding offers abroad. JHU
MANILA, Philippines - Poor working conditions, a dim chance at career advancement and low salaries have continued to push thousands of experienced Filipino teachers to greener pastures abroad, leaving behind a generation of students hungry for quality education.
This was the concern of Annie Geron, secretary-general of Public Service Labor Independent Confederation (PS-LINK) at a forum on the mass migration of Filipino teachers amid the global economic crisis.
In less than a decade, PS-LINK said more than 4,000 Filipino educators, including school principals who demoted themselves to teaching jobs, have moved to the US, Middle East, and other Asian countries like China, Japan and Indonesia to teach.
In the US, Gerona said a Filipino teacher with at least three years of teaching experience could receive between $4,000 and $8,000 a month or 20 times their paycheck in the Philippines.
With more experienced teachers in core subjects like math and science leaving Philippine classrooms, the quality of education in the country is slowly becoming compromised, she added.
Math and science teachers who receive scholarships and study grants from Philippine institutions hike their chances of getting hired in the US. The continued outflow of Philippine teachers has helped create a shortage of 16,000 teachers as school year opened, Geron said, citing figures from the Department of Education.
Shannon Lederer of the American Federation of Teachers, said part of the reason teachers are lured outside is because of very aggressive recruiters offering attractive packages to Filipinos, including permanent US residency.
"If teaching is a public service, recently it has become a business," Lederer said.
The AFT said there are 33 recruitment agencies luring teachers into the US. Currently, 19,000 foreign teachers are working in various US states such as Maryland, Texas and Louisiana. Federer said a very significant portion of this figure are Filipinos.
Aileen Mercado was among the first batch of 55 teachers who sought work in Baltimore’s school district in Maryland in 2005.
“It was a very, very risky move," Mercado said. “We didn’t know anyone from Baltimore."
Now, Mercado, who has petitioned her entire family to Maryland, said there are 600 teachers in Baltimore, which is 10 percent of the district’s teaching population.
Emphatizing with the teachers' plight, Labor Undersecretary Romeo Lagman vowed to help teachers who decided to stay in the Philippines have better working conditions.
"My wife is a teacher for 41 years," Lagman said. ‘But when she retired two years ago, her salary was only P14,000."
Geron is pushing for an increase in plantilla positions for teachers in the Philippines and an ethical recruitment process to avoid the brain drain. She suggested signing agreements with destination countries to train at least five teachers in the Philippines for every Filipino teacher they hire abroad. - GMANews.TV
GURONG PINOY PATULOY NA NAHIHIKAYAT MANGIBANG BANSA
June 24, 2009, GMANews.TV
MANILA – Patuloy ang paglisan ng mga guro sa Pilipinas patungo sa mga bansang kayang mag-alok ng mas malaking sahod para sa magandang kinabukasan ng kanilang pamilya.
Ngunit kapalit ng ginhawa sa buhay ay pagiging ulila ng mga kabataan na gutom sa de-kalidad na edukasyon.
Ito ang inihayag ni Annie Geron, secretary-general ng Public Service Labor Independent Confederation (PS-LINK), sa isinagaang forum tungkol sa mass migration ng mga gurong Filipino sa kabila ng nagaganap na global economic crisis.
Itinuturong dahilan sa paglisan ng mga guro ang hindi magandang kalagayan ng kanilang pinapasukan, mababang sahod, at kawalan ng katiyakan sa kanilang propesyon sa hinaharap.
Sa halos isang dekada, sinabi ng PS-LINK na mahigit 4,000 guro, kabilang mga school principal ang piniling magturo sa US, Middle East, at iba pang bansa sa Asya gaya ng China, Japan at Indonesia.
Ayon kay Geron, ang isang guro na may tatlong taong karanasan ng pagtuturo ay maaaring sumahod sa US ng mula $4,000 hanggang $8,000 sa isang buwan – mas mataas ng halos 20 ulit kaysa tinatanggap nilang bayad sa Pilipinas.
Nalalagay umano sa panganib ang kalidad ng edukasyon sa bansa dahil karamihan sa mga guro na umalis ay may malawak ng karanasan lalo na sa asignaturang math at science.
Mas mataas din umano ang tiyansa ng guro na makapagtrabaho sa US kung tumanggap ito ng scholarships at study grants.
Dahil sa pagdami ng mga umaalis na guro, tinatayang 16,000 posisyon ng guro kailangang punan sa tuwing magbubukas ang klase bawat taon, batay sa talaan ng Department of Education, ayon kay Geron.
Sinabi naman ni Shannon Lederer ng American Federation of Teachers, na maraming guro ang nahihikayat na magturo sa ibang bansa dahil sa magandang alok katulad ng US na handang magkaloob ng permanent US residency.
"If teaching is a public service, recently it has become a business," pahayag ni Lederer.
Sa ngayon, sinabi ng AFT na may 33 recruitment agencies na nangangalap ng guro para magturo sa US. Tinatayang 19,000 dayuhang guro umano ang nagtuturo sa mga estado ng US tulad ng Maryland, Texas at Louisiana.
Malaking bahagi ng mga guro sa US ay mga Filipino, ayon pa kay Federer.
Kabilang sa 55 gurong Pinoy na nahikayat na magturo sa Maryland noong 2005 ay si Aileen Mercado.
“It was a very, very risky move," ani Mercado. “We didn’t know anyone from Baltimore."
Ngunit ngayon, nakuha na ni Mercado papuntang US ang buo niyang pamilya sa Maryland.
Upang matulungan ang mga guro na nanatili sa Pilipinas, nangako naman si Labor Undersecretary Romeo Lagman na gagawa ng paraan upang mapabuti ang kanilang working conditions.
"My wife is a teacher for 41 years,"kwento ng opisyal. ‘But when she retired two years ago, her salary was only P14,000."
Isa sa mga rekomendasyon ni Geron ay isulong ang panukala na itaas ang plantilla positions ng mga guro upang mapataas ang kanilang sahod.
Iminungkahi din niya na dapat magkaroon ng kasunduan sa mga bansang kukuha ng Pinoy teacher na magkaloob ng training program sa limang guro kapalit ng isang guro na magtuturo sa kanilang bansa.
WHO WILL GUIDE THE FILIPINO YOUTH?
June 28, 2009 http://ofw.talk-pick.com/who-will-guide-the-filipino-youth/
There is no stopping Filipinos from working abroad. Doctors, nurses and engineers are among others. The sad thing is – even our educators – are joining the mass migration of Filipinos.
What do you think are the reasons pushing our teachers to work abroad? They are supposed to be the ones laying out the foundation for the Filipino youth and yet – they continue to seek for careers abroad leaving the Filipino youth hungry for quality education.
So what’s really keeping our Filipino teachers from staying and teaching away from Philippines?
According to Annie Geron, secretary-general of Public Service Labor Independent, 4,000 Filipinos have already have already moved to the US, Middle East and other Asian countries for teaching jobs in less than a decade.
Because of these, our quality of education has deeply suffered and it also resulted in a shortage of about 16,000 teachers when the school year opened.
Poor working conditions and uncertain career advancement have been cited as contributing factors why our teachers are going elsewhere to teach and earn.
But one of the most obvious and foremost reason is the low salary. A local teacher’s salary in Philippines pales in comparison when compared to how much he or she can earn in the US. In the US, a teacher could earn from $4,000 to $8,000 a month or 20 times his or her salary in the Philippines. According to Labor Undersecretary Romeo Lagman, his wife is a teacher for 41 years but when her wife retired, her salary was only P14,000. Knowing this, most of us might not be surprised anymore why teachers are selling polvoron, longganisa, tocino, yema and pastillas to their students.
If you were a teacher, what would you choose – a $300 a month salary or somewhere around $4,000 to $8,000 a month salary?
Don’t be surprised also if teachers themselves are the ones encouraging students to study hard and work abroad.
As an OFW, I will not be surprised at all.
DEMAND FOR TEACHERS UP, ENROLLMENT GOES DOWN
By Gloria Esguerra Melencio
MANILA - About 18 million teachers will be needed worldwide by 2015, according to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), but Philippine enrollment in education courses dwindles year after year.
Shannon McLeod of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), who spoke on Tuesday in a public forum about education and migration sponsored by the Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK), said the demand for teachers abroad continues as 18 million teachers will be needed by 2015.
However, she cautioned teachers not to hastily jump on offers for teaching jobs abroad and to study any given situation very carefully.
She said there are 33 job placement agencies that recruit teachers for the United States and that many Filipino teachers she has interviewed in the US have told of sad tales that paint a bleak picture of Filipino migrantion in times of global economic crisis.
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Undersecretary Romeo Lagman said the number of students enrolling in education courses for this year dwindled to 380,000 from the 400,000 last year.
The number of enrollees has been declining through the years and the number of graduates in education decreased to 40,000 last March 2008.
He added the number was cut further when the graduates took the licensing board exam as only 33 percent of the examination takers passed the tests.
Aileen Mercado, a teacher and AFT officer, warned at the forum that, although foreign jobs for teachers look lucrative, teachers must be informed of the risks of working overseas like culture shock, homesickness and separation of husband and wife, among others.
Mercado, who was a special education teacher in Baltimore before joining AFT, said some teachers may not be as lucky as her batch when she went to the US four years ago.
Some teachers she had interviewed were made to pay exorbitant placement fees and lived difficult lives when they settled abroad, she added.
This situation usually happens when one is forced to migrate out of poverty from her the country. “We hope that going abroad for Filipino teachers in the future becomes a choice and not out of necessity or forced by poverty,” she said. - Saudi Gazette