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Fair and Just Promotion System Will Avert Cheating
(Statement on Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian’s ‘ready-made research for sale’ expose)

Cheating is stealing. And as we go up the ladder, the wider and deeper the impact on our nation, and therefore the culpability of perpetrators, gravest. TDC condemns this deplorable dishonesty that puts the integrity of our system in question. Falsification of academic achievements is never acceptable.

The broader implication of these misdeeds is that this frightening culture of cheating favors the unscrupulous and incompetent. We are actually installing the worst people possible in key positions, putting Philippine education in the sad state it is right now in. We can do without this kind of individuals.

It is easy to see that some of the guilty ones may have felt that cheating was the only way to level the playing field and get back what has been stolen from them in the first place. Still, we cannot excuse them.

And then there are those who do it out of sheer greed, the rest of us be damned. These individuals must be pursued and dealt with according to law.

Parallel to this, the Department of Education (DepEd) must demonstrate sincerity and resolve in ensuring a fair and credible promotion system. One that is not blinded by mere theses or other “academic achievements.”

Picture this: As the greedy and dishonest go on frenzy over high paying positions, oft times cannibalizing each other, the hard working, talented and honest teachers labor their lives away for decades, with no hope of ever getting the promotion they so very well deserve. Who loses here the most but the Filipino people?

If the DepEd therefore, is serious about its duties both to the Filipino people and our beloved teachers, let them provide all teachers honest-to-goodness, no-nonsense trainings. Let the DepEd access the best minds in both the private and public sectors. We can take a look at the best performing systems in the ASEAN region and learn from them.

It is long overdue that the DepEd fulfilled the now half-a-century old Magna Carta for Public School Teachers. The law provides for a workload conducive for teachers’ academic growth, a paid study leave for them, and a favorable merit system, among other benefits. Let the department, therefore, make into reality the professional growth and upward mobility of our teachers as etched in law. And let it be for all teachers from the big cities, all the way to the far-flung areas around the country.

For details:
Benjo Basas, National Chairperson
0927-3356375

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