Revitalized Program of Teacher In-Service Training in the Public Schools

December 10, 1985

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 1487

INSTITUTIONALIZING A REVITALIZED PROGRAM OF TEACHER IN-SERVICE TRAINING IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

WHEREAS, the Philippine Public school system has expanded rapidly during the last decade, now with 31,410 public elementary schools and 3,354 public secondary schools with enrolments of 8.2 million and 1.8 million pupils/students respectively;

WHEREAS, the improvement and maintenance of the quality of education in the public schools requires a continuing program of teacher training and improvement;

WHEREAS, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports has taken initial steps to improve the elementary and secondary school curricula, develop better instructional materials, and reorient and retrain more than 340,000 public school teachers through in-service seminar-workshops and the organization of 13 regional, 127 division, and 1,927 district Learning Action Cells (LACs) to help improve management capabilities and provide effective leadership for the 14,000 school LACs; cd i

WHEREAS, teacher reorientation and retraining programs are being undertaken under the Program for Decentralized Educational Development (PRODED), financed out of a World Bank loan that is gradually being exhausted;

WHEREAS, the expected exhaustion of loan financing and the need to carry through to the secondary level, the improvements begun at elementary schools, calls for careful planning and institutionalization of teacher training activities;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by Law, do hereby Order and Instruct:

Continuity of Teachers Training Efforts

1. The operations and maintenance of the Teacher Training Centers of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports shall continue to be funded by PRODED out of World Bank loan proceeds until 1986, after which year requirements shall be provided in the General Appropriations Act;

2. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports and the Office of the Budget and Management shall design an organization that will institutionalize and improve upon the existing Learning Action Cell approach, to help ensure the continuing training or public school teachers at the elementary and secondary levels, to see to the upgrading of their competence in subject matter being taught, the principles and methods of teaching, school administration, and other subjects pertinent to the effective exercise of educational functions;

3. In service training of teachers, administrators and education support personnel shall be an official responsibility and regular activity of the regional, division and district offices of the MECS. Funding provision to enable them to perform this vital function is hereby authorized;

4. The Office of Budget and Management shall provide in the budget of MECS funds for: (a) scholarships and fellowships for schoolteachers in order to enable them to pursue advanced studies particularly in communication arts, mathematics and the sciences: Provided, That such studies are in degree programs of state universities and colleges or private schools which are accredited by the Federation of Accrediting Associations of the Philippines (FAAP), (b) a lump sum for hiring substitute teachers while the incumbents of permanent items are on scholarship, fellowship, or other training activity; and (c) travel and maintenance expenses for teachers on training activity;

5. The Office of Budget and Management and the MECS shall collaborate on the design of a strategy for the selective and purposeful upgrading of the facilities and standards of key teacher training institutions within the state university and college system, in order that the needs of the public school system for adequately prepared teachers and be fully served; acd

National Regional and Decentralized Learning Centers

6. The MECS teacher training organization shall include the following components:

a. A National Education Learning Center (NELC) at Teachers Camp in Baguio City which shall monitor developments in the field and in coordination with the Ministry staff bureaus, develop the necessary curricular, pedagogical and training components of the schools system, and offer summer training programs in specialized fields of educational innovation and management;

b. A Regional Education Learning Center (RELC) in each Region or sub-Region which shall undertake actual training activities for participants from the various schools divisions within the Region, particularly District Supervisors and Principals. It is expected that they shall have full time trainors and facilities including seminar and class rooms, libraries, laboratories, and other requirements for full time teacher training;

c. Appropriate training organizations at Division, District and School level, particularly in the form of Decentralized Learning Resource Centers, where school teachers can be trained by those who have gone through training at RELCs and the NELC;

7. The trainors at the NELC and RELC shall aim to have the same qualifications, including training and experience, as the academic staff of teacher training institutions in state universities and colleges and shall enjoy the same position classification and compensation schedules;

8. Each Center shall have a core staff of permanent trainors, education researchers and support personnel. The MECS may also constitute advisory boards for each center, including representatives of such groups as teachers, administrators, teacher training institutions, and parents;

Coordination with Other Agencies

9. The NELC and RELC shall work closely together with the teacher training institutions among or within the state university and college system, particularly the Philippine Normal College, the University of the Philippines, the Development Academy of the Philippines, and other institutions of similarly high repute, including private institutions that are accredited by the Federation of Accrediting Associations of the Philippines (FAAP). The services of consultants of resource persons on full time or part time detail may be obtained from state universities and colleges or other agencies and may be paid honoraria, allowances, or other suitable compensations; casia

Professional Standards

10. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, the Civil Service Commission, the Professional Regulations Commission, and the Office of Budget and Management shall review existing policies, rules and regulations affecting qualifications and requirements for the teaching profession, including both teachers and administrators, with the aim of upgrading civil service and position classification standards for teaching and educational administration;

Effectivity

11. The aspects of this Letter calling for budgetary action shall be implemented in the preparation of the 1987 budget, while the aspects requiring no budgetary action shall be implemented immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 10th day of December, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five.