Catholic schools in Metro Manila are appealing to the government to include their personnel as beneficiaries of the cash aid program amid the coronavirus crisis.
The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippine – National Capital Region said the downtrend in enrollment brought by the pandemic has affected their finances.
The appeal was contained in a letter dated June 20 to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate’s basic education committee.
“Our meager savings are fast depleting and in no time could no longer sustain the needs of our personnel,” the letter read.
The schools stressed that their operations are totally dependent on the tuition and fees of students. But the pandemic, they added, has affected many sectors in various ways, especially their finances.
“Private schools employees were not spared from this dilemma,” they said.
The schools particularly sought the help of Gatchalian to include their personnel in the government’s second tranche of cash aid under the Social Amelioration Program.
CEAP is an association of more than 1,500 Catholic schools nationwide. In the capital, it has about 171 member schools with more than 30,000 employees.
