LEADERS AND MEMBERS of private school unions and associations from across the country convened for the 1st National Consultation for Private Education Workers, a two-day conference aimed at addressing longstanding labor issues in the private education sector and forging a unified national agenda for workers at the University of the Philippines’ School of Labor and Industrial Relations (UP-SOLAIR) from January 23 to 24.

Organized by the Council of Teachers and Staff of Colleges and Universities of the Philippines (CoTeSCUP), in collaboration with the Federation of Free Workers (FFW), the National Federation of Labor (NFL), and UP-SOLAIR’s Center for Labor and Justice, the event sought to develop a National Workers’ Agenda for Private Schools (2026–2028) that will serve as a framework for policy advocacy, collective bargaining, and social dialogue with government agencies and education stakeholders.

The event’s opening began with various labor leaders, Prof. Rene D. Tadle, Lead Commencer and President of CoTeSCUP, Atty. Sonny Matula, President of FFW, and Atty. General Du, President of NFL, giving an introductory speech on the purpose of the convention—to address the problems faced by private educational workers on low wages, lack of benefits and representation, and transparency on tuition fee increases.

“Students and workers are not sufficiently included. Our reform process gains legitimacy when it is inclusive. It fails when the key state holders are treated as afterthoughts,” Prof. Tadle highlighted.

It then proceeded with the first plenary speaker, Atty. Peter Lloyd Carpio, Chief Legislative Liaison and Mediation Division of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), who tackled how CHED instituted programs and policy guidelines and procedures that address the concerns of private educational workers, with one of them being the project “Scholarship for Staff and Instructors’ Knowledge (SIKAP),” which aims to support faculty and non-teaching personnel to pursue graduate studies in the betterment of their work.

“The teaching staff is the lifeblood of the school,” Atty. Carpio said in his speech, giving proof that CHED is doing further studies to advance the welfare of faculty personnel, while also acknowledging the gaps done by their agency.

However, this ideal was challenged by the second plenary speaker, Hon. Elijah E. San Fernando, Representative of the Kamanggagawa Party-list, who argued that the country lacks policy reforms and that government agencies and private institutions have failed to align with and address the actual needs of private educational workers.

In an interview with The Bedan, he believed that acknowledgment of inconsistencies is not enough action to understand the needs of the workers.

“So bagama’t…may pag-acknowledge na may problema doon sa mga memorandum, doon sa mga existing na batas, hindi pa sapat kasi hindi nga gumagawa ng meaningful action ang Commission on Higher Education and other relevant agencies for that matter,” he stated.

This was then backed up by Atty. Matula. “At present, the teachers it seems are left behind by the government. Teachers need to organize themselves and be a force to be reconvened by organizing unions so that they can be heard by the government,” he reflected.

Both also addressed how such problems stemmed from the lack of support from the government along with the profit-oriented mentality of most private school institutions, which inherently affects the state of quality education in the country.

“Pinaka-ugat niyan ano, profit oriented kasi. Maraming mga private higher education institutions mas inuuna yung kita atsaka yung kita ng institution nila,” Hon. San Fernando stated, with Atty. Matula adding the idea that “The government should give subsidies to the private sector…because we know that government educational institutions alone they could not cope up with the demand of the citizenry.”

On issues raised by several participants from different universities and colleges on tuition fee increases and the potential loss of jobs due to the reduction of general education subjects, Atty. Matula stated that the government should increase its budget allocation on education, while Hon. San Fernando pressed on representation and the right to be heard.

The opening day of the event then ended with participants presenting problems and possible remedies tackled in their chosen breakout rooms, circling on themes of state of unionism, legislation issues, tuition fee increases, and curriculum—a process of integrating diverse perspectives and various insights among private educational workers to guide government leaders on producing effective solutions on education.

(With Dianne Radel V. Magallon)