This Organization Gives Pinoy Teachers Free Access To Quality Teaching Materials

We can all agree that teachers are among the most underappreciated professionals in the country. These are individuals who chose to pass on their expertise to countless other people, favoring the growth of several generations over their own personal glory.

Yet for all the good that they do, most teachers get very little financial support. A recent report pegs the average monthly salary of public elementary and high school teachers at P19,566, which is inadequate when you have to provide for your family. Private school teachers, oddly enough, have it worse with an average monthly salary of P11,416.

On top of that, our teachers have difficulty getting the basic tools they need to teach. In 2018, the opening of the school year was met with tentativeness, as there was a significant lack of books available to students. Out of 64,000 classrooms that teachers need for 2020, the budget allocated for their construction is good enough for only 8,000. Some teachers have to resort to buying their own chalk in order to do their jobs.

It’s a grim situation, but there are several programs and organizations working to give educators the support they deserve. One such program is Gabay Guro, which for the past 12 years has been providing assistance to teachers across seven different pillars of support.

The initiative is a major project of the PLDT-Smart Foundation and has been working to provide for a variety of needs on behalf of educators and students.



Their first pillar of support is Connectivity and Computerization, which equips schools with Internet connectivity and equipment so that classroom learning is optimized.

Under the Scholarship pillar, Gabay Guro supports over 1,000 scholarships in 47 partner schools.

The Teachers' Training pillar helps teachers stay at the top of their games through periodic courses in English Proficiency, Computer Literacy, Emotional Intelligence, and Leadership Training, among others.

The Classroom Donation pillar helps teachers beyond the classroom; outside of improving the quality of educational facilities, Gabay Guro has been providing housing benefits to teachers in need of help.

The organization also helps educators augment their income through the Livelihood Programs pillar, which provides training and guidance for managing the teachers’ micro-enterprises.

With the Teachers’ Tribute pillar, Gabay Guro provides more support and thanksgiving through a variety of programs. The Teacher’s Fest on September 22, for example, was a grand celebration inviting teachers from all over the country to enjoy a night of performances by the likes of Aegis, Gabby Concepcion, Pops Fernandez, and Ian Veneracion, just to name a few. The event was open to all teachers, who signed up for it at the Gabay Guro Facebook page.

The final, and most recent, pillar of support is Digital Innovation, which helps teachers come up with novel ways to solve specific problems. It’s from the Innovation pillar that the new Gabay Guro app—which will provide assistance in the form of lesson plans, games, articles, and more—will be launching soon. With the app, the organization hopes to streamline the assistance afforded to our teachers who, frankly, deserve all the help they can get.

Teaching may feel like a thankless job, but with programs like Gabay Guro doing their best to improve the lives of some of the most important people in this country, our teachers are finding more and more reasons to feel like it’s all worth it.

Learn more about Gabay Guro by visiting their official website and by following Gabay Guro on Facebook.