SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday stressed that they are aiming to identify the paths of public school teachers.

Gatchalian made the statement during his opening statement in a Senate hearing to discuss bills on the Expanded Career Progression System for Public School Teachers.

“Improving morale not only comes in the form of remuneration and salary, but it also comes in the form of career progression, improvement in skills, improvement in their mobility in their careers. And hopefully we can also see teachers as leaders in the education system,” Gatchalian said.

The Second Congressional Commission on Education, and the Department of Education, along with other stakeholders are pushing for the institutionalization of the Teacher Career Progression System, aiming to address long-standing challenges in teacher promotion and career development.

Findings from EDCOM 2 reveal that the existing career progression system has been hampered by a shortage of available plantilla positions in schools and school division offices.

Despite many teachers and school leaders qualifying for Master Teacher roles, opportunities for promotion have been constrained by the limited number of these positions.

This limitation has stunted professional growth and mobility for educators across the education sector.

A quota system, as stipulated under the Position Classification and Compensation Scheme, further exacerbates the issue. For elementary schools, Master Teacher positions are capped at 10% of the total teacher positions, with 6.6% for Master Teacher I and 3.4% for Master Teacher II. Secondary schools face similar constraints, with one Master Teacher position allowed per subject area for every 5 to 7 authorized teacher positions, Teacher I to III.

“Data shows that it takes an average of 15 years for a teacher to progress from Teacher I (Salary Grade 11) to Teacher III (Salary Grade 13). With limited career advancement options, many teachers are forced to shift into administrative roles, such as head teachers, to secure higher pay,” said EDCOM 2 Chief Technical Officer Krupskaya Añonuevo in her presentation.

“Although we have the IRR of EO 174, gusto talaga natin ma-institutionalize ang Expanded Career Progression System. We want to send that strong signal to our classroom teachers that should they wish to stay in the classroom and i-master ang pagtuturo, they can do so, and they can certainly advance in doing so,” she added.