Go vows action to safeguard welfare of students, teachers

Former special assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go has promised to initiate a free school supplies programmes for all students nationwide along with the free tuition being granted to them in public schools.“Many of our youth do not have money to buy the things that they need in school, so school supplies and other requirements should be free,” Go told the crowd who took part in the Alay Lakad in Batangas City on Nov 21, 2018.Alay Lakad is a nationwide fund-raising activity that aims to help marginalised and out-of-school youth finish their studies. President Rodrigo Duterte is the honorary chairman of the Alay Lakad, Foundation Inc, organiser of the event.In previous sorties, Go has said school supplies were being provided for free by some local government units through their Special Education Fund, but this was dependent on the LGU’s capacity to fund education programmes for their constituents.In Batangas City, Go also vowed to look into how the free school supplies programme could be integrated into the budget of the Department of Education.”“Not all LGUs are equal, so not all can provide free school supplies like notebooks. It is a national concern to give students assistance so they can finish school, thus I will look into how this could be made into a national programme that can be added to the budget of the Department of Education,” he said.The former top aide of President Duterte also assured anew that he would follow up the status of the salaries of public school teachers with the chief executive.“I will certainly be following this matter up with the president. But I know this will push through right after the salary standardisation. Just like our policemen, they will be the next to benefit,” Go said referring to the completion of the four-year Salary Standardisation in 2019.Go, a candidate for senator in the 2019 elections, has made education one of his advocacy and legislative priorities.