Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has filed a bill seeking to amend the Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act of 1994 or Republic Act No. 2784 in a bid to enhance the quality of teaching in the country and improve the country’s education system.
In filing Senate Bill No. 2840, Gatchalian said it is imperative to generate quality teachers and improve learner outcomes by also ensuring the country’s education system adapts to modern technological advancements.
SB No. 2840, the senator said, includes a key provision to introduce alternative pathways for registration as professional teachers, by allowing applicants to qualify either through a licensure examination or by submitting a portfolio indicating their attainment of professional teaching standards.
These pathways would help expand the pool of competent and skilled teachers, particularly in subjects or areas where specialized knowledge and expertise are highly needed.
“The end goal here is to create highly qualified and professional teachers that will enter our education system. And with these highly qualified teachers, we would also hope to see improved learner outcomes,” Gatchalian said.
“At the end of the day, we are doing this because we want our learners to improve, and we want learner outcomes to improve as well,” he stresssed.
He said the primary purpose of amending the law is to address new technologies and innovations in the teaching profession as “teaching evolves, pedagogy evolves, and systems and procedures evolve.”
“We must continuously review laws governing different professions—in this case, the teaching profession—and assess whether they remain attuned to the changing times,” he added.
Those who want to register as professional teachers are required to take the licensure examination.
But under the measure, a graduate of an accredited teacher education center of excellence, with a consistent passing rate of at least 80 percent in the last five years, can submit to the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) a portfolio demonstrating the attainment of the professional standards for teaching.
The PRC shall provide the criteria of professional standards for teachers and determine their satisfactory demonstration in submitted portfolios. This is to ensure that only qualified and competent applicants shall be given the required certificate of registration and license to teach.
Under the bill, an applicant who has a 10 year teaching experience prior to the measure’s enactment inot law can register without examination but would be required to submit a teaching experience portfolio. Such portfolio would be used for the thorough evaluation of acquired knowledge and expertise comparable to professional standards.
Within three years of the proposed law’s effectivity, these applicants will be required to apply for registration and issuance of a certificate of registration and professional identification card.