Nadia Caliz, President, BNTU
"Before this, a teacher would apply for a license and they would wait in vain. And because our teachers were waiting in vain for a license, a lot of them would have to leave the classroom. Even though they qualified for that renewal, that license would not be furnished and the management wanted a hard copy of that license."

"So these teachers here, they will share their stories as it pertains to licensing. But when we met with Minister Fonseca in July, he put in place a system one month. So the minute you apply at the district education center, one month from that date, you can visit that DC and your license should be there."

"And so for us, that is a win win. When we met again with Minister Fonseca, we pointed out to him that no teacher should go through this. No short-term course, no CPD should supersede a pedagogical degree."

"We spent thousands of dollars at the universities getting more bachelor's and master's and associate's degree in education. And these are pedagogical degrees. And so how can a course for $50 supersedes that. That did not sit well with the BNTU. And he identified with us that, you know, we need to look at it. So he asked us to come up with the recommendation, which we did. And in principle, he has agreed that the teachers will undergo their usual supervision in the school. The weaknesses will be highlighted, strengths and weaknesses will be highlighted by the supervisor. And they will then recommend the courses that teachers need to take. If teachers don't engage in these courses, again, this is a recommendation that they have agreed to in principle."

"We still need to work out the little details. If they don't engage in these courses, then they don't get an increment. The BNTU prefers that as opposed to not getting your full salary and being kicked out of the classroom."

"So for us, that's another win-win."