PARAÑAQUE Rep. Edwin Olivarez has filed a measure that will establish the Bureau of Private Schools that will administer, supervise and regulate private schools.

Olivarez said that since the Department of Education is more focused on the needs of public schools, he filed House Bill 6852 or the proposed Bureau of Private Schools for Primary and Secondary Education Act of 2023.

“Although problems in public educational institutions are enormous and deserving of much attention, the DepEd should not lose sight of the whole picture,” he said in his explanatory note.

The private education sector, he added, has its own problems and having an agency that is solely focused on them would help address their concerns.

“To illustrate, DepEd assigns only one supervisor in charge of one division which houses many private schools. It is noteworthy that despite Metro Manila having close to 2,000 private schools, since there are only 16 divisions, accordingly, there are only 16 supervisors which oversee all these private schools,” Olivarez said.

These supervisors are also tasked to attend to other assignments such as scouting, nutrition, teaching and the organization and management of the private schools.

“Considering the dilemma faced by the private schools, it is about time that a bureau is created that will exclusively cater to the needs of private eductaion specifically in the private elementary and high school sectors,” the lawmaker said.