Amendments to Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act

Section 15 of Republic Act No. 7836 is amended to bar the admission of an applicant to take the examination unless the applicant has complied with specified educational requirements on the date of filing (Section 1).
The educational qualification rules apply to graduates of a school, college, or university recognized by the government and cover teachers by level (Section 1).
For preschool, the applicant must have a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education (BECED) or its equivalent (Section 1).
For elementary grades, the applicant must have a bachelor’s degree in elementary education (BSEED) or its equivalent (Section 1).
For secondary grades, the applicant must have either:
- a bachelor’s degree in education with a major and minor, or
- a bachelor degree in arts and sciences with at least eighteen (18) units in professional education (Section 1).
For vocational and two-year technical courses, the applicant must have:
- a bachelor’s degree in the field of specialization or its equivalent, with at least eighteen (18) units in professional education (Section 1).

A person may not engage in teaching and/or act as a professional teacher at the preschool, elementary, or secondary level unless duly registered and holding a valid certificate of registration and valid professional license, or holding a valid special/temporary permit (Section 2).
A qualified applicant must receive issuance without examination once the application is approved and prescribed fees are paid (Section 2).
The issuance without examination applies if the applicant is either:
- a holder of a certificate of eligibility as a teacher issued by the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Education, Culture and Sports, or
- a registered professional teacher with the National Board for Teachers under the DECS, pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 1006 (Section 2).
Professional teachers who have not practiced their profession for the past five (5) years must take at least twelve (12) units of education courses, consisting of at least six (6) units of pedagogy and six (6) units of content courses, or the equivalent training and number of hours (Section 2).
The required courses must be chosen from a list of courses to be provided by the Board and the Department of Education, before such teachers are allowed to practice (Section 2).

Those who failed the licensure examination for professional teachers with a rating not lower than five percentage points from the passing general average rating are eligible as para-teachers upon issuance by the Board of a two-year special permit (Section 2).
The para-teacher two-year special permit is renewable for a non-extendible period of two (2) years (Section 2).
Para-teachers must be assigned to areas where there is a shortage or absence of a professional teacher, as identified and provided by the Department of Education and the ARMM education department to the Board for professional teachers and to the Commission (Section 2).
The special permit must indicate the area of assignment of the para-teacher (Section 2).
The Board may also issue a special permit to a person who has excelled, gained international recognition, and is a widely acknowledged expert in his or her respective field of specialization (Section 2).

Special permits issued to para-teachers by the Board for Professional Teachers before the effectivity of Republic Act No. 9293 are allowed to expire based on the period granted in the permit (Section 3).
The transitory rule covers special permits with validity of either three (3) years or five (5) years (Section 3).
Only special permits with validity of three (3) years may be renewed upon expiration for a non-extendible period of two (2) years (Section 3).

References in Section 4(a) and Section 25 of Republic Act No. 7836 to “Department of Education, Culture and Sports” are amended to “Department of Education” (Section 4).
References in Section 20 of Republic Act No. 7836 to “DECS” are amended to “DepEd” (Section 4).

Section 5 provides separability: if any section or provision of Republic Act No. 9293, or its application to any person or circumstance, is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the remainder of the Act is not affected (Section 5).
Section 6 provides a repealing/modification rule: all laws, decrees, circulars, administrative orders, rules and regulations, and other issuances inconsistent with Republic Act No. 9293 are repealed or modified accordingly (Section 6).
Section 7 states that the Act takes effect upon approval (Section 7).