60 OFWs from Hong Kong pass exams for teachers

SIXTY Filipinos working in Hong Kong passed the licensure examinations for teachers held in September here.

According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the 60 LET passers were composed of 52 who took the secondary level, and eight passed the elementary level.

Over 450 Filipinos in Hong Kong took the exams here in September.

The government, under the “Sa Pinas, Ikaw ang Ma’am/Sir” program, has been encouraging teachers who are working as overseas Filipino workers to return to the Philippines to teach.

The salary of a public school teacher in the Philippines under the 2016 Salary Standardization Law (Teacher 1, entry level, Salary Grade 11, Step 1) is P19,077 per month, including a personal emergency relief allowance of P2,000.

A teacher also receives a yearly benefit of clothing/uniform allowance of P5,000; a year-end bonus equivalent to one-month basic pay; a cash gift of P5,000’ performance bonus based on school performance; a productivity incentive of P5,000; proportional vacation pay up to 70 days; 14 days Christmas vacation with pay; and a chalk allowance of P1,000.

She also receives other benefits and incentives, such as one-step increment pay for every three years of satisfactory performance; hardship allowance equivalent to 15 to 25 percent of basic pay if he/she is assigned in hardship posts and if he/she is a mobile teacher or multi-grade teacher. – with a report from Ally Constantino