Gaya ng ibang bansa, itinuturing pa rin na isang malaking problema ang kakulangan sa teachers—ng mahuhusay na guro—sa Pilipinas.
Base sa policy paper ng United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), na inilabas ngayong Linggo, World Teachers’ Day (WTD) 2014, nakasaad na dahil sa kakapusan sa mahuhusay na guro “without action, it will be impossible to get all children into school by 2030.”
Paliwanag ng UNESCO, dahil sa agarang pangangailangan na masolusyunan ang “chronic, global shortage of teachers”, maraming bansa—kabilang ang Pilipinas—ay “sacrificing standards and undermining progress by hiring people with little or no training.”
Sa panibagong policy paper na inihanda ng UNESCO sa pamamagitan ng Institute for Statistics (UIS) at EFA Global Monitoring Report (GMR), nakasaad na “at least 93 countries have an acute teacher shortage.” Kaya naman may pangangailangang mangalap ng may “four million teachers to achieve universal primary education by 2015.”
Ayon sa UNESCO, dahil kailangang agad na mapunan ang problema sa kakapusan sa guro, maraming bansa ang nagtitiyaga sa mga guro “who lack the most basic training.” Sa one-third ng mga bansang may datos, natukoy sa pag-aaral na “fewer than 75% of primary school teachers were trained according to national standards in 2012.”
Bukod diyan, sinabi ni UNESCO EFA Global Monitoring Report Communications and Advocacy Specialist Kate Redman na ang Pilipinas ay isa mga bansa na kulang sa mga guro.
“In the Philippines, like in many other countries of the region, the lack of trained teachers, especially in critical early grades and in disadvantaged areas remains a problem,” ani Redman.
“More experienced teachers who might be knowledgeable in effective strategies to teach early grade reading and math are more likely to be assigned to higher rather than lower grades,” paliwanag ni Redman. “This is reflected in very poor performance of students in reading and mathematics in early grades.” - Ina Hernando-Malipot