Question & AnswerQ&A (TEC)
The purpose of Republic Act No. 7784 is to strengthen teacher education in the Philippines by establishing Centers of Excellence, creating a Teacher Education Council, appropriating funds, and other purposes aimed at ensuring quality education through improved teacher training.
Under RA 7784, 'Council' refers to the Teacher Education Council created under the Act, which is a group of eleven members appointed as per Section 5 tasked with overseeing teacher education matters.
A 'Teacher' includes all persons engaged in classroom teaching of any subject at elementary and secondary levels, including guidance counselors and instructional supervisors, but excludes school nurses, physicians, dentists, administrators, and administrative staff. Graduates who passed the government teachers' exam but not employed as teachers are also included.
A Center of Excellence is a recognized public or private institution involved in pre-service and continuing education of teachers that has a proven track record in teacher education performance, research, and community service according to criteria specified in Section 3 of RA 7784.
The criteria include having highly qualified faculty, adequate library and research facilities, competent staff, selective admission policies, relevant instructional programs, student development programs, student services, extension services, average LET pass rates over the past 3 years, percentage of graduates becoming teachers, and other measures of excellence established by the Council.
They experiment with innovative teacher education programs, coordinate collaborative research, serve as resource centers for curricular development, facilitate networking, provide assistance to teacher education institutions, encourage mutual support for upgrading programs, and help facilitate accreditation processes.
The Council consists of four permanent members: Secretary of Education, a Commissioner from CHED, Chairman of PRC, and a representative of NCCA; and seven regular members appointed by the President representing different regions and teacher disciplines.
Members serve without any compensation but are entitled to reimbursement of actual and necessary expenses incurred in performing their duties, subject to usual accounting and auditing rules.
The Council identifies and designates Centers of Excellence, formulates policies and standards, reviews curricula, adopts incentive systems to attract students into teaching, encourages consortia among teacher education schools, designs collaborative programs, directs research, reviews legislation, recommends measures to government, and calls upon agencies for assistance.
An initial appropriation of One Hundred Million Pesos was authorized from the Department of Tourism's Trust Liability Account, with not more than 5% for Council expenses. Subsequent funding will come from the Department of Education, Culture and Sports' budget, and funds are administered by the Council's Executive Director with accountability reports required.