PASAY CITY -- To effectively address the crisis hounding the education sector, Senator Win Gatchalian is urging 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,” pagdidiin ni Gatchalian.

According to Gatchalian, who is said to retain his chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture in the 19th Congress, the Department of Education (DepEd) should prioritize immediate and effective implementation of the Excellence in Teacher Education Act (Republic Act No. 11713) which seeks to revamp the Teacher Education Council (TEC) and improve the quality of teacher education and training from pre-service to in-service. The measure was signed into law on April 27 this year.

Since incoming Secretary of Education Sara Duterte-Carpio won more than 61% of votes in this year's elections, Gatchalian emphasized 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, with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairperson as the Vice-Chairperson.

"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% 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 (BEDP) 2030," Gatchalian added, referring to the roadmap that the DepEd recently launched to improve the delivery and quality of basic education.

According to Gatchalian, 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 (PRC).

"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 ended. (OSWG)