The city council supports Senate Bill 1887 or the proposal that aims to improve the capability of Filipino teachers, introduced by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.
The bill, which has been referred to the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts, and Culture, seeks to enhance the quality of basic education in the country by capacitating the teachers and school leaders and to strengthen the Teacher Education Council under Republic Act 7784.
The bill also aims to institutionalize the National Educators Academy of the Philippines.
Councilor Vladimir Cayabas, main author of the resolution, said there is a need for strategic and continuous retooling of teachers and school leaders to enhance them professionally which, in turn, will make them responsive to the needs of learners today.
Cayabas expressed disappointment at the “discouraging” results of various competency and performance indicators such as the national passing rate of the Licensure Examination of Teachers and the pre-service assessments of teachers on their knowledge in different core subjects.
He said the performance of teachers significantly affects the quality of learning. He cited the study conducted by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization that revealed Filipino basic education learners are lagging in reading, writing, and mathematics. This supported the results of an examination conducted by the Program for International Student Assessment in 2018 that showed Filipino learners gained the lowest score in comprehension and ranked 78th in science and mathematics out of the 79 countries.
Cayabas said teachers and school leaders should be equipped with new skills, approaches, and strategies; provide them with innovative policies, and boost their mindset since they have been exposed to extraordinary challenges brought about by the ongoing pandemic.
This is to ensure that learners shall not be shortchanged under the new normal ways of learning, he stressed.
“To ensure quality education, focusing on the professional development of teachers and school leaders is highly essential as they play a vital role in advancing the thrust of schools as centers of potent learning,” Cayabas said. – Jordan G. Habbiling
April 26, 2024
