Education Secretary Juan Edgardo 鈥淪onny鈥 M. Angara on Wednesday said that the Department of Education (DepEd) aims to boost the financial literacy of more teachers to avoid financial vulnerability.听
鈥淥ur goal is really to increase the financial literacy of our teachers because we saw that a lot are still lacking, sometimes they are scammed,鈥 he told 大象传媒 in Filipino on the sidelines of an event.听
Mr. Angara noted that teaching financial literacy is 鈥渧ery complex, as it also involves other topics such as cybersecurity. 鈥淪o, it鈥檚 not just the concepts; you also have to teach them how teachers become vulnerable to financial scams, etc.鈥澨
In line with the department鈥檚 initiative to 鈥渁id in the production of a financially literate and debt-free teaching force鈥, the Education chief noted that DepEd partnered with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and BDO Foundation in launching the BSP E-LEARNING ACADEMY (BELA) last September.听
BELA is an online platform that provides e-learning courses on personal finance, economics, and central banking.听
Under the DepEd Order (DO) No. 22, s. 2022, or the 鈥淔inancial Education Policy鈥, teaching and non-teaching personnel are encouraged to access nine self-paced e-learning modules in the BELA Personal Financial Management Course to help them 鈥渕ake sound financial decisions that lead to financial health and financial inclusion.鈥澨
The department added that each module takes less than 30 minutes to complete.听
Topics included are financial planning, budgeting and saving, debt management, basics of investing, financial consumer protection, digital financial literacy, fraud and scam prevention, Personal Equity and Retirement Account (PERA), and the BSP鈥檚 role in the economy.听
TEACHERS IN DEBT
In a separate interview, INNOTECH Centre Director Majah-Leah V. Ravago noted that while teachers have higher literacy rates compared to the general population, teachers remain in debt.听
Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Chairperson Ruby Bernardo, in a Facebook post on Wednesday, added that teachers 鈥渄rowning in debt鈥 is not caused by poor financial habits but 鈥渟tate neglect and worsening economic crisis鈥.听
鈥淲hat finances are we supposed to manage when our salaries are far below the family living wage and our benefits barely cover our needs?鈥 she said.听
DepEd data from 2019 showed that public school teachers have a total outstanding loan to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and private lenders of at least P319 billion. 鈥 Almira Louise S. Martinez听
