TO EFFECTIVELY address the education crisis, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian urged the incoming administration to ensure quality education and training for teachers.

“Kung maganda ang mismong pundasyon ng mga guro, inaasahang dekalidad din ang ibibigay nilang klase ng pagtuturo sa mga estudyante nila,” Gatchalian said.

The lawmaker urged the Department of Education to prioritize immediate and effective implementation of the Excellence in Teacher Education Act which seeks to revamp the Teacher Education Council and improve the quality of teacher education and training from pre-service to in-service.

Since incoming Education Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio won more than 61 percent of votes in this year’s elections, Gatchalian said that the Vice President-elect has the political capital to effectively implement reforms like the Excellence in Teacher Education Act.

Under the law, the DepEd Secretary will be the Chairperson of the TEC.

“We are in a very unique position because no less than the second highest official of our land will now lead the Department of Education, carrying with her 60 percent of the votes of the Filipino people,” said Gatchalian.

“In reforms we need political capital. We also need political will. But the political capital is something we need to exploit in order to launch a lot of the reforms specified in the Basic Education Development Plan 2030,” he added, referring to the roadmap that the DepEd recently launched to improve the delivery and quality of basic education.

Gatchalian said that the Excellence in Teacher Education aligns with the BEDP 2030.

The law mandates the TEC to set basic requirements for teacher education programs.

This is to ensure a strong and transparent link between the outcomes of teacher education programs and the professional standards for teachers and school leaders, research and international best practices.

The law will also strengthen coordination between the DepEd, the CHED, and the Professional Regulation Commission.

“We gave a lot of powers to DepEd to make sure that teacher education is seamless from pre-service all the way to in-service,” Gatchalian said.