SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian has filed a measure mandating the automation of the National Public School Database.

Gatchalian said that his purpose in filing Senate Bill 478 or the proposed Public School Database Act is to promote an easier and seamless access to education by streamlining the enrolment process.

The senator said the National Public School Database will serve as a mechanism to provide timely, relevant and accurate information to school heads and teachers that will help them perform their administrative tasks more efficiently.

The database will also serves as a layer of protection for the safe-keeping of learners records.

Creating a database will provide a storage mechanism for the school records of the 24.1 million learners enrolled in public schools as of School Year 2021-2022.

“Documents are easily damaged and lost due to fragile storage, flood, fire and other disasters. Storing learners’ school records in a database ensures that these important documents are preserved and easily accessible,” Gatchalian said in his explanatory note.