UPON my assumption as OIC-Schools Division Superintendent of the Division of Davao Oriental, I envisioned to instill financial literacy first to the division personnel then to be cascaded to the teachers and students.
I remember when erstwhile Director Gloria D. Benigno visited the divisions in her first few months as RD and introduced the concept of Warren Buffett on financial literacy. She always reiterated in various fora the need to use the formula: income – savings = expenses and not the other way around. She even encouraged the teachers to start saving Php 500 a month.
It was during the time of former Regional Director Susana Teresa B. Estigoy when Deped CO and Deped RO 11 launched a partnership program with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, a Financial Literacy Programby using the Teaching Guides on Financial Education with the objective of starting financial literacy with the young (still in line with Suze Orman’s principle that financial literacy should start at an early age. According to her FB post, these teaching guides were for Edukasyong Pagpapakatao, Edukasyong Pangtahanan at Pangkabuhayan, Sibika at Kultura/ Heograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika. The BSP sponsored the production of these guides distributed to the elemementary schools. Former RD Estigoy wished that the CLMD in the region and CID in the division consider those mentioned teachers guide to teach financial literacy.
Today, Secretary Leonor Briones noted that the issue of teachers’ debts is a decades-old drama starring the teachers as borrowers, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and private lending institutions (PLIs) as lenders, and the Deped, which deducts loan payments authorized by teachers to be paid to GSIS and PLIs.
In her speech during the National Literacy Conference the Secretary further noted that of these four actors, the teacher/borrower who spends the borrowed money, and the GSIS and PLIs who earn interest benefit from the borrowing activity, DepEd benefits the least. It merely deducts loan payments on the basis of authorizations issued by the teacher/borrower.
Briones pointed out that the Department is looking for measures that will enable teaching and non-teaching personnel to manage their finances to prepare for a better future. Some being considered are reduction of interest rates on loans through the expansion of the Deped Provident Fund and coordination with GSIS on loan buyouts, which will restructure an employee-borrower’s PLI loans. Further, it is expected that GSIS will offer lower interest rates on a longer payment term.
Briones noted that the damage of overborrowing on lives of teachers and their families has been going on for years and it can no longer continue. In 2016 alone, 26,000 teachers could not avail of their retirement benefits due to unpaid loans. DepEd has initiated intensive financial literacy courses to teachers.
The DepEd Chief mentioned the two new laws (Republic Act No. (RA) 10679 and RA 10922) mandate DepEd to teach financial literacy to students. However, the good secretary said that before the teachers can teach financial literacy to students, they have to start to be financially literate themselves.
This Corner shares the concerns of the entire Deped system to rescue teachers and personnel from the plague of indebtedness so that they will be morally upright and believable to talk about financial literacy because they themselves are practicing it.
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Director’s Cut: (This portion features the thoughts of lawyer Alberto Escobarte, CESO IV, Regional Director, DepEd-Davao to all stakeholders and recipients of the efforts to improve the basic education). "Let me assure you that in the performance of my official duties and even my private acts will be guided and guarded by my Oath of Office, The Panunumpa ng Kawani ng Gobyerno, the Philippine Constitution and all the laws that govern our actions.”
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You can access DepEd Updates, latest issuances, photos and other relevant information through our website: http://www.deped.gov.ph and our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Deped.Philippines/. For queries, complains and other concerns for the different schools divisions email them to davao.city@deped.gov.ph, davao.delsur@deped.gov.ph, davao.delnorte@deped.gov.ph, tagum.city@deped.gov.ph, panabo.city@deped.gov.ph, igacos@deped.gov.ph, davao.oriental@deped.gov.ph, digos.city@deped.gov.ph, mati.city@deped.gov.ph and compostela.valley@deped.gov.ph.