Baguio city: A veteran teacher who spent 30 years at the same rank will retire three levels higher thanks to a Department of Education promotion program, officials said Monday. Marcelina Gosgos of Balili Elementary School was among 8,811 DepEd personnel in the Cordillera region promoted under the Expanded Career Progression program.
According to Philippines News Agency, Gosgos expressed her gratitude, stating, "Without the reclassification, I will retire as Teacher III Step 8, but with God's grace, I am lucky to have been one of those promoted, and I will retire as Teacher VI." Her statement was made during a mass oathtaking for 1,937 promoted personnel in Benguet province.
Dr. Estela Cari±o, DepEd-Cordillera director, referred to the event as historic, highlighting that the region received an additional PHP1.4 billion for the promoted employees' annual salaries. She emphasized the importance of financial security for teachers, stating, "I do hope the teachers will be inspired and happy because if they are happy, and they have no financial worries with the increase in salaries, they would be more inspired to teach."
Benguet Governor Melchor Diclas encouraged teachers to maintain the province's top national ranking in functional literacy. Meanwhile, DepEd Undersecretary Wilfredo Cabral explained that the program, which has been in development for several years, aims to restore teachers' dignity and allow them to focus more on teaching. Cabral also mentioned plans to deploy administrative staff to handle non-teaching tasks.
