Senate education committees wrap up TWG meetings for TEC reform bills

Photo credit: Sen Gatchalian Facebook account

The Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture—joint with the Senate Committee on Higher, and Technical and Vocational Education—concluded its committee-level discussions on the Teacher Education Council (TEC) reform bills with the 6th and final Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting on 18 February 2021.

The final TWG meeting tackled the 6th version of Senate Bill No. 1887 filed by Committee chair Senator Sherwin Gatchalian and Senate Bill No. 1893 filed by Senator Ramon Revilla, Jr.

SB 1887 was co-authored by Senator Joel Villanueva, chair of the Senate Committee on Higher, and Technical and Vocational Education.

The bills carried proposed revisions to the original versions based on the discussions during the two (2) public hearings in November and December 2020, and the five (5) TWG meetings on since 14 January 2021.

The amendatory bills seek to strongly link the outcomes of teacher education programs to what are expected of teachers when they practice teaching.

In a previous TWG meeting, Senator Gatchalian said that amending the TEC is an important reform because (the absence of) that link is what is causing poor outcomes of our students.

Senator Gatchalian said that “the dismal results of the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) in recent years have made it more urgent to improve the country’s teacher education quality.” He noted that from 2014 to 2019, the results of Licensure Examinations for Teachers (LET) show that the average passing rate was only 28 percent for the elementary level and only 36 percent for the secondary level.

During the November 4 Senate hearing, Sen. Gatchalian underscored the importance of reforming the TEC: “We have to admit we have a serious problem right now. And without admitting that we have a serious problem, we would not be able to solve it. We would just go down and spiral down as we go along.”

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles, in his talk at a Senate hearing at the second committee hearing for the said bills, encouraged legislators to “stand up for teacher quality.”

“If we want to aim so high as a nation, we need to support our teachers. Whatever is good for our teachers is also good for the country. They deserve nothing less from us,” Sec. Nograles said.

The proposed bills will ensure that teacher quality is given high importance and teachers are supported not only during their pre-service education but across their career continuum. They will be consolidated and submitted to the Senate plenary for discussion and voting.

At the series of TWGs, PNU was represented by Vice President for Academics Dr. Jennie Jocson, RCTQ Director Dr. Gina Gonong, RCTQ Senior Program Manager Dr. Ma. Arsenia Gomez, and RCTQ Senior Manager for Communications and Advocacy Mr. Arvin Yana.

Other agencies and offices represented were the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Professional Regulation Commission, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), UP Diliman College of Education, National Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development (NISMED), Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), and the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Association (COCOPEA).