Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday, May 22 renewed his push for the creation of a National Public School Database to streamline the enrollment process in the country. Gatchalian filed Senate Bill No. 478 or the proposed Public School Database Act, which mandates the Department of Education (DepEd) to develop, operate and maintain such database that contains all students information. The proposed national public school database will include school grades, personal data, good moral record, and improvement tracking, among others. The senator pointed out physical documents are usually easily damaged and lost due to fragile storage, flood, fire, and other disasters. But by storing students’ school records in a database, school heads and teachers are assured that these important documents are easily accessible and preserved. “Batay sa karanasan natin noong kasagsagan ng pandemya, nakita natin ang napakahalagang papel ng teknolohiya, hindi lamang para sa pag-aaral at pagtuturo kundi pati na rin sa pamamalakad ng ating mga paaralan (Based on our experience during the height of the pandemic, we have seen the very important role of technology, not only for learning and teaching but also in the management of our schools),” said Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Basic Education. “Kaya naman isinusulong natin ang paglikha ng National Public School Database upang gawing mas madali ang proseso ng ating enrollment, at matulungan ang ating mga guro at mga school heads (That is why we are promoting the creation of the National Public School Database to make our enrollment process easier, and to help our teachers and school heads),”  said Gatchalian. Under the bill, the National Public School Database will also include other learner-specific data, such as exam scores, grade levels, attendance, and immunization records for the chronicling of learners’ biographical data. The database will also include the handling of admissions and discharges, and transferring to other schools. The measure also ensures that school administrators shall have access to these data to provide timely, relevant, and accurate information to help them perform their tasks more efficiently. The DepEd is also mandated to formulate a Database Information Program, which will train education professionals on the development of the National Public School Database, as well as the maintenance of information it contains.