Professionalization of Teaching Law

Policy and purpose

Section 2 declares that teacher education must receive primary concern and attention by the government.
Section 2 requires that teacher education be of the highest quality and be strongly oriented to Philippine conditions and the needs and aspirations of the Filipino people.
Section 2 directs that teacher education may seek enrichment from adoptable ideas and practices of other people.
Presidential Decree No. 1006 establishes teacher professionalization to raise teacher morale and recognize teaching as a profession.

Key definitions of teaching and teachers

Section 3(a) defines “Teaching” as the profession primarily concerned with classroom instruction at the elementary and secondary levels, in accordance with the curriculum prescribed by the National Board of Education, whether part-time or full-time, and in public or private schools.
Section 3(b) defines “Teachers” as all persons engaged in teaching at the elementary and secondary levels, whether full-time or part-time, including guidance counsellors, school librarians, industrial arts or vocational teachers, and all other persons performing supervisory and/or administrative functions in the covered schools, provided they are legally qualified to practice teaching under the Decree.
Section 3(c) defines “Board” as the National Board for Teachers created under Section 4.

Creation and composition of the Board

Section 4 creates a National Board for Teachers, called the Board.
Section 4 provides that the Board is composed of:
- the Secretary of Education and Culture as Co-Chairman;
- the Chairman, Civil Service as Member;
- the Commissioner, Professional Regulations Commission as Member;
- two members representing the private sector appointed by the President.
Section 5 grants the Board authority over teacher examinations, certificates, and professional standards.

Board powers: examinations, certificates, standards

Section 5(a) authorizes the Board to appoint examiners for every teachers’ examination to determine and prepare the contents of the examination.
Section 5(a) requires the teachers’ examination for elementary and secondary levels to be held at least once a year.
Section 5(b) empowers the Board to determine examination places and dates, appoint supervisors and room examiners from government employees, and grant a daily allowance fixed by the Board for each examination day actually attended.
Section 5(b) further authorizes the Board to use buildings and facilities of public and private schools for examination purposes, approve applications to take the examination, and approve the release of examination results.
Section 5(c) directs the Board to review from time to time conditions affecting teaching and adopt measures to enhance the profession and maintain professional standards and ethics.
Section 5(d) empowers the Board to issue, suspend, revoke, replace or reissue Professional Teachers Certificates and to administer oaths.
Section 5(e) authorizes the Board, subject to existing laws, to appoint necessary officials and employees, prescribe duties, and fix compensation.
Section 5(f) authorizes the Board to prescribe and collect examination and other fees as it deems proper.
Section 5(g) authorizes the Board to promulgate rules and regulations and exercise other powers necessary to carry out the Decree.

Who may take the teachers’ exam

Section 6(a) prohibits admission to the examination unless the applicant has complied with requirements on the date of filing of the application.
Section 6(a)(a) requires the applicant to be a citizen of the Philippines, except those engaged in teaching in Philippine schools (not organized exclusively for nationals of a foreign country) for at least five years at the time of effectivity of the Decree.
Section 6(a)(b) requires the applicant to be of good moral character.
Section 6(a)(c) requires the applicant to be free from any physical and/or mental defect that will incapacitate efficient service.
Section 6(a)(d) requires minimum educational qualifications:
- Kindergarten and elementary: Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education (B.S.E.Ed.) or its equivalent.
- Secondary schools: Bachelor’s degree in Education or its equivalent with a major and minor, or Bachelor’s degree in Arts or Sciences with at least eighteen units in professional education.
- Secondary vocational and two-year technical courses: Bachelor’s degree in the field of specialization with at least eighteen units in professional education.
Section 6 requires applications to be filed with an office or offices designated by the Board, preferably the offices of the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Education and Culture.
Section 6 requires the designated offices to screen and approve applications and issue permits to take the examination to qualified applicants.

Examiners, confidentiality, and compensation

Section 7 requires the Board to appoint a set of examiners for every examination who are recognized authorities in teacher education.
Section 7 requires that the names of examiners shall not be disclosed until after the release of the results.
Section 7 sets examiner compensation at not less than P5.00 for each examinee, as determined by the Board.
Section 7 caps compensation so that each examiner shall receive no more than P18,000.00 per examination.
Section 7 provides that any examiner in government service receives the compensation provided in addition to his or her salary.

Examination structure and passing standards

Section 8(a) requires the examination to consist of written tests.
Section 8(a) authorizes the Board to determine the scope of the written tests, taking into consideration the teaching plan of legally constituted schools in the Philippines.
Section 9(a) establishes the passing standard: a candidate must obtain a general average of at least 70% in all subjects.
Section 9(a) requires that there be no rating below 50% in any subject.

Reporting and processing results

Section 10(a) requires examiners to report candidates’ ratings to the Board within 150 days after the last day of the examination, unless extended by the Board.
Section 5(b) authorizes the Board to approve the release of examination results, integrating examiners’ reporting into Board control.

Certificates, professional eligibility, and recognition

Section 11 provides that teachers who have passed examinations given by the Civil Service Commission or jointly by the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Education and Culture are considered to have passed the Board examinations for teachers.
Section 11 authorizes the Board to treat certificates of rating as certificates of eligibility or to issue an entirely new certificate upon registration of the teacher and payment of the corresponding fees.
Section 11 applies the same treatment to teachers with permanent appointment under the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers and to all others qualified for registration as professional teachers under the Decree.

Registration and effects of Professional Teacher status

Section 12 requires the Civil Service Commission, as an arm of the Board, to register holders of Professional Teacher Certificate.
Section 12 provides that registration evidences the registrant’s entitlement to all rights and privileges of a Professional Teacher.
Section 12 limits continued entitlement by stating it remains effective until and unless the certificate is suspended or cancelled by the Board for just cause.

Reciprocity registration without examination

Section 14 authorizes the Civil Service Commission, upon approval of the Board, to register a teacher without examination if the teacher is validly registered under the laws of a foreign state or country.
Section 14 requires that the foreign state’s registration requirements are substantially the same as those required and contemplated by the Decree.
Section 14 requires that the foreign state’s laws allow citizens of the Philippines to practice teaching on the same basis and grant the same privileges as the foreign state’s citizens or subjects.
Section 14 requires the applicant to submit competent and conclusive documentary evidence, confirmed by the Department of Foreign Affairs, showing that the applicant’s country permits Philippine citizens to practice teaching under laws permitting citizens hereof.

Prohibition on teaching without certification

Section 15 imposes a time-bound prohibition: three years after the effectivity of the Decree, no person may engage in teaching and/or act as a teacher as defined in the Decree.
Section 15 applies the prohibition to both public and private elementary and secondary schools.
Section 15 allows teaching only if the person is a holder of a Professional Teacher Certificate or is considered a Professional Teacher under the Decree.

Criminal penalties for unlawful practice and fraud

Section 16 penalizes anyone who practices teaching without a valid Professional Teacher Certificate.
Section 16 penalizes anyone who presents another person’s certificate as their own.
Section 16 penalizes anyone who gives false or forged evidence to obtain a Professional Teacher Certificate or admission to an examination.
Section 16 penalizes anyone who assumes to be a registered professional teacher.
Section 16 penalizes any person who violates any provision of the Decree.
Section 16 prescribes penalties:
- a fine of not less than One Thousand Pesos and not more than Five Thousand Pesos, with subsidiary imprisonment, or
- imprisonment of not less than six months and not more than two years, or
- both fine and imprisonment, at the discretion of the Court.

Certificate reissuance and replacement

Section 13 authorizes the Board to issue another copy (including duplicate) of a certificate that has been revoked for reason of equity and justice, upon proper application.
Section 13 requires payment of the required fee before reissuance of a revoked certificate copy.
Section 13 allows issuance of a new certificate to replace a lost, destroyed, or mutilated certificate, subject to Board rules.

Repeal, separability, and constitutional treatment

Section 17 repeals or modifies any Acts, Decrees, Executive Orders, Administrative Orders, rules and regulations, or parts inconsistent with the Decree.
Section 18 provides separability: if any provision or part is declared unconstitutional by a competent court, the remaining provisions are not affected.