SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian sought the creation of a National Public School Database to promote easier and seamless access to education through a streamlined enrollment process.

Gatchalian filed Senate Bill 478 or the Public School Database Act, which will mandate the Department of Education to develop, operate and maintain database that contains learner information including school grades, personal data, good moral record and improvement tracking.

The education department will also have to ensure the security and confidentiality of the information contained in the database, in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act 10173 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012.

“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,” Gatchalian said in the bill’s explanatory note.

He pointed out that physical documents can be easily damaged and lost due to fragile storage, flood, fire and other disasters.

By storing learners’ school records in a database, important documents are preserved and become easily accessible to help with assessment, planning and setting of operational targets, the lawmaker said.

Under the measure, school administrators shall be given access to the National Public School Database containing learner records and other learner specific data, including exam scores, grade levels, attendance and immunization records.

This is to help with the recording of biographical data for all learners, handling admissions and discharges and the transfer of learners to other schools.

Aside from the database for students, Gatchalian also proposed a program that will train education professionals in the development and maintenance of the information in the National Public School Database.