By Charissa Luci-Atienza
The House Committee on Welfare of Children has approved a bill seeking to enhance the role of parent-teacher and community associations in promoting the welfare and protecting the rights of children and the youth.
Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez
The House panel, chaired by Tingog Sinirangan partylist Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez, passed the substitute bill and endorsed it for plenary deliberation and approval.
"The bill seeks to institutionalize and enhance the role of Parent Teacher and Community Associations (PTCA), organized under Presidential Decree No. 603, otherwise known as the "Child and Youth Welfare Code" in the total and integral development of children and the youth," Romualdez, who principally authored the bill with Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez said.
She cited the need to institutionalize and enhance an "integrative and coordinative mechanism" for a total children and youth development program involving parents and teachers.
"In this respect, the PTCAs can serve as a powerful voice for the welfare of school children, a relevant tool for engagement by their families and the communities they live and a strong advocate for basic education," Romualdez said.
Under the substitute bill, every elementary and secondary school shall organize an association of parents-teachers for the total development of children and the youth.
"The PTCA shall be the forum for the discussion of problems and solutions, issues, and concerns to such a development program thus ensuring the full cooperation of parents, teachers, and community stakeholders in its efficient and effective implementation," the bill said.
The measure provides that all parents who have children enrolled in a school shall be considered as members of its PTCA and are obliged to comply with the duties and responsibilities such membership entails.
It tasks the Department of Education (DepEd) to make it mandatory for all government and private elementary and high schools to form their Parents-Teachers and Community Associations and elect their respective set of officers.(Charissa M. Luci-Atienza)###