Sen. Villanueva praises PNU, RCTQ’s roles in legislating education policies
Sen. Villanueva
Sen. Joel Villanueva highlighted the critical role that the Philippine Normal University (PNU) plays in legislating education policies as exemplified by the proposed Teacher Education Excellence Act which RCTQ has advocated to become a national law.
During his speech as Guest of Honor and Speaker at PNU’s 113th Commencement Exercises on 16 July 2021, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Higher, and Technical and Vocational Education said that if the future of Philippine education is a matter of public interest and concern, then “the development of such an agenda is too important to be left in the hands of policymakers alone”. The PNU, he said, as the National Center for Teacher Education and as a research institution, can and must play a crucial role in crafting a research-and-science-based education policies.
Sen. Villanueva said the Teacher Education Excellence Act is one of the landmark bills “now underway” in the Senate.
“Sa pinagsanib na pwersa nina Dr. Gina Gonong at Dr. Jennie Jocson, may parating na malaking reporma at development para sa mga teachers sa bansa (With the combined expertise of Dr. Gina Gonong and Dr. Jennie Jocson, we will have great teacher development reform happening soon in the country),” he said. Dr. Gonong, Director of RCTQ, and Dr. Jocson, PNU Vice President for Academics, were among the resource persons during the series of committee and technical working group (TWG) meetings for proposed reform bills since last year which seek to strengthen the Teacher Education Council (TEC). Dr Gonong and Dr Jocson were also part of the Technical Working Group for Teacher Quality (TWG-TQ) chaired by Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles that drafted recommendations for strengthening teacher quality in the country. They worked with representatives from the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Professional Regulation Commission, and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), among others.
The filed bills are now consolidated as Senate Bill No. 2152 or the Teacher Education Excellence Act.
“With my personal experience working with PNU professors, I can now attest to your important role, especially in legislating education policies. It has always been comfortable presiding over Senate education hearings, knowing that a representative from PNU is at the other end of the table. You are the valued guests that we always want to be around in the Senate,” Sen. Villanueva said.
The senator recognized the academic and research community of PNU “for the myriads upon myriads of words you spoke and wrote, which served as a basis for our recently enacted educational laws.” He also specifically mentioned PNU professors Dr. Wilma Reyes and Ms. Nonita Marte for their assistance in crafting the Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) and Values Education Law; and Dr. Zhanina Custodio and Dr. Shirley Cerbo for their roles in pushing for the Inclusive Education Bill which is now at the Bicameral Conference Committee.
Sen. Villanueva also praised PNU President Dr. Bert J. Tuga “for being an inspiration to many school leaders during the pandemic, for showing that passion knows no boundaries.”
Also commended in the senator’s speech was the Linking Standards and Quality Practices (LiSQuP) of PNU being a concrete response to our predicament on teacher quality. The Department of Education (DepEd) and PNU jointly implement the LiSQuP with assistance from RCTQ for the training of 2,820 teachers and school leaders from all over the country. Such an innovation, he said, is “not only for thinking outside the box but, more so, acting outside the box.”
Watch Sen. Villaneuva’s commencement address below:
https://www.rctq.ph/?p=3101NewsLiSQuP,Philippine Normal University,Teacher Education Council
