Nearly 772,000 public teachers are faced with a career roadblock because of a curable problem in the DepEd plantilla system.

Many are stranded for years, or even forever, in deadend positions where promotion is delayed or impossible because of missing rungs in the DepEd career ladder.

Hindi tulad sa military o sa pulis na mayroong mga matataas na ranggong pwedeng akyatin at nagbibigay inspirasyon sa kanila na ang pagsisikap ay masusuklian ng promotion – kahit ninja cop ka pa.

Sa ngayon kasi halos lahat ng mga teachers sa DepEd ay nakakumpol at nagsisiksikan sa tatlong Salary Grades:· 436,275 na Teacher I, Salary Grade (SG) 11 namay basic monthly salary na P20,754;· 127,999 na Teacher II, na SG 12, P22,938 ang buwanang sweldo; at· 207,613 na Teacher III, na SG 13, P25,232 ang buwanang sweldo.

Ang susunod na mga ranks ay Master Teacher I (SG 18, P40,637); Master Teacher II (SG 19, P 45,269), at Master Teacher III (SG 20, P51,155).

Clearly, there is a P15,000-monthly pay and a four-salary grade gap between a Teacher III and a Master Teacher I.

One official reason often given on why only a few Teacher III holders eventually make it to the Master Teacher items is the lack of budget.Kaya ilang dekada ang hihintayin bago makatawid sa Master Teacher. Ang biro nga ng mga guro: Dalaga ng pumasok saDepEd; ngayon lola na, pero Teacher III pa rin. Compared to their long wait, the ‘Ang Probinsyano’ series breezes by in a nanosecond.

And the comparative dearth in Master Teachers is shown by their actual number. For Master Teacher I, 39,950 nationwide. Ang bilang naman ng Master Teacher II ay 15,828. At ang kabuuan ng Master Teacher III sa buong Pilipinas ay pwedeng pagkasyahin sa isang bus, kakarampot na 65.

Ano ang mabisa at makatarungang solusyon? Close the gap now.

How? By creating Teacher IV, V, VI, VII positions, with the Salary Grades 14, 15, 16, 17 respectively. The basic starting monthly pay of the proposed Teacher IV, based on the current payscale, is P27,755; Teacher V, P30,531; Teacher VI, 33,584; and Teacher VII, P36,942.

These are the bridge items to Master Teacher I. Creating them is only just and fair. One of the pillars of civil service is the predictability of meritorious promotion. In the case of DepEd, there seems to be a glass ceiling which prevents the career progression of the truly deserving.

The last I heard is that the good Secretary Liling has officially requested the DBM to approve the creation of Teacher IV to VII positions. If this is true, then DBM, please expedite.