Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 3532

INTRODUCED BY
1-CARE PATRYLIST REPRESENTATIVE SALVADOR P. CABALUNA III

ARTICLE XI Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution provides that “the State
shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels,
and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all.”

In addition, Section 2 of the same Article mandates that:
“Section 2, The State shall:

(1) Establish, maintain, and support a complete, adequate, and
integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people and
society;

(2) Establish and maintain a system of free public education in the
elementary and high school levels. Without limiting the natural rights
of parents to rear their children, elementary education is compulsory
Jor all children of school age;”

Ten years of basic education and a series of revisions to improve the same
have been proven ineffective. In the Southeast Asian Region, our country is the
only one with a [0-year basic educational set-up while our neighbors have at least
11 to 12 years. This effectively gave them the competitive edge over us.

Learning is a continuing process. Early childhood education has been
adopted in industrialized countries on the premise that the child is a blank slate.
This early education which continues up to the 12" year of basic learning forms the
foundation with which college or university education can stand. If this foundation
is weak, an ill-equipped graduate of tertiary education will be produced. On the
other hand, a strong and quality 12-year basic education will definitely produce
excellent tertiary education graduates. Should finances not warrant the pursuance
of tertiary education by a student who graduates from the 12-year basic education,
the technical-vocational skills that he/she learns during his/her senior high school
years will definitely mold him/her to become the backbone of our economy.


Quality and accessible lifelong learning, from early childhood development
to primary, secondary and tertiary learning are crucial elements for the nation to
prosper and compete. The Filipino youth’s capacity to actively participate in
national development and rightfully claim opportunities for improving their quality
of life can only be achieved through enhancement of their knowledge and skills
and providing them with avenues to lead productive lives.

In view of the foregoing, the passage of this Bill is earnestly sought.

SALVADOR P. CABALUNA II


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO._ 35382

INTRODUCED BY SALVADOR P. CABALUNA IIT

AN ACT REFORMING AND STRENGTHENING THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATIONAL
SYSTEM, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR GTHER PURPOSES
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. This Act shall be known as the “Philippine Educational
System Reform Act of 2010.”

SEC. 2. Declaration of Principles. Article XIV, Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution
mandates that “the state shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at
all levels and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all. In addition,

Section 10 of the same Article recognizes that “science and technology are essential for national

development and progress. Corollary to this, it is hereby declared the principle of the State that:

a. Quality and accessible lifelong learning, from early childhood development to
primary, secondary and tertiary leaning are crucial elements for the nation to prosper
and compete;

b. The Filipino youth's capacity to actively participate in national development and
rightfully claim opportunities for improving their quality of life can only be achieved
through enhancement of their knowledge and skills and providing them with avenues
to lead productive lives.

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. The following are the operating definitions for the purpose
of this Act:

Accreditation —a rigid process of evaluating the readiness of a day care center and/or day
care worker in providing quality pre-school education to its pupils:


Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship Track ~ one of the two tracks in the secondary
education curriculum where core subjects in agriculture, business, entrepreneurship and other
related disciplines are taught for the purpose of preparing the students for higher education in
line with the specific field of endeavor within this track;

Barangay Day Care Center — a barangay-based preschool facility which provides
preschool education for 5-year-olds. It is under the auspice of the local government unit;

Bridge Program ~ a DepEd Program designed as a conduit of the elementary and high
school education where background of students in English, Math and Science are reinforced to
make them more adept to the aforesaid subjects in high school;

Day Care Worker ~ a teacher of preschool education who is equipped with the basic
approaches in early childhood education and development;

Health and Nutrition Program — a preschool program designed to ensure the fitness of
the child in terms of nourishment and his/her overall well-being. In this program, the health and
nutritional status of a child is monitored and early intervention is instituted, if needed;

Kindergarten Education — an education offered to 6-year-old children in public
elementary schools in order to prepare them for primary education;

No read, no move policy — a policy of the DepEd where a child is not allowed to be
promoted to the next grade level if he/she is not able to read;

Reading and Arithmetic Proficiency — the capacity of a student to read independently and
correctly perform the four (4) basic mathematical operations;

School Readiness Assessment — an assessment test designed to determine whether a child
is prepared for primary education;

Secondary Education Curriculum — the present curriculum of the DepEd for high school
students;

Standardized Day Care Instruction — a curriculum which shall be designed by the DepEd
and shall be used by all day care centers nationwide in teaching preschool education;


TekBok Subjects — these are subjects which will be integrated in the secondary education
curriculum in order to prepare students to become effective partners of the government in nation-
building;

TekBok Track ~ One of the two tracks in the senior high school where core technical-
vocational subjects are taught in order to hone students for the technical-vocational disciplines.
This track shall be designed such that students graduating from this high school track are
equipped with the necessary faculties in the specific field of endeavor which he/she may opt to

choose when taking university education.

TITLE L.
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

SEC. 4. Barangay Day Care Center and Day Care Worker Accreditation. The
Department of Education, in coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and
Development, shall device a mechanism for the accreditation of all barangay day care centers in
the country. Provided, however, that all barangay day care workers shall, upon fulfillment of the
necessary ECCD teaching requirements to be set forth by the DepEd or upon passing the
qualifying examination to be administered by the DepEd and the Civil Service Commission for
the purpose, be absorbed to become part of the teaching force of the Department of Education
and shall enjoy the same benefits as provided for by the government to any other civil servant of
equal status. Provided, further, that BDCWs who have previously been civil service eligible or
who have passed licensure examinations in line with their professions are exempted from taking
such examination. Provided, however, that all BDCW who shall be absorbed into the teaching
force of the DepEd shall undergo retraining in order to fully equip them with the necessary
aptitude and skills in early child care and education.

SEC. 5. Standardized Day Care Instruction. The Department of Education, DSWD,
LGUs and other stakeholders are hereby mandated to develop an effective standardized day care
curriculum/instruction.

SEC. 6. Mandatory Pre-School Education for All. The DepEd and DSWD are hereby
mandated to encourage all 5 year old children to attend preschool education prior to enrolment to
grade 1. Five (5) years after the implementation of this Act, no child shall be enrolled to grade 1

if he/she has not passed the requirements of a preschool education in a government-accredited
preschool institution.

SEC. 7. Mandatory Kindergarten Education. Ail public elementary schools are hereby
required to establish a standardized Kindergarten education curriculum. The DepEd shall


endeavor to bring in at least 20% more 6-year-olds into kindergarten until 100% of the age group
are enrolled by the end of four (4) years of implementation of this Act, after which, all 6-year-old
children shall be mandatorily required to attend kinder school prior to enrolment to grade 1.

SEC. 8. Adoption of Standard School Readiness Assessment. The DepEd shall adopt the
Standard School Readiness Assessment which shall be comprised of the ECCD Checklist and
School Readiness Tool. The ECCD Checklist shall cover the identification of developmental
delays of the child using the seven (7) domains, namely gross motor skill, fine motor skill, self
help, receptive language, expressive language, cognitive skill and social and emotional coping
skills with the ultimate purpose of providing early intervention for the child to cope with the any
delay. The School Readiness Too! shall be used to measure the cognitive and mental functioning
of the child and shall cover the areas the subject areas of reading, writing and language. The
Standard School Readiness Assessment shall be used as basis for the promotion of the child to
the next grade level.

SEC. 9. Free Preschool Health and Nutrition Program. In coordination with the
Department of Health, LGUs and NGOs, the DepEd shall institutionalize free health and
nutrition programs in public day care centers and preschools.

TITLE I.
ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY EDUCATION

SEC. 10. No read, no move policy. The “no read, no move” policy of the Department of
Education is hereby made mandatory for all children enrolled in grades 1 and 2. The Department

of Education shall provide the appropriate testing method to effectively carry out the provision of
this section,

SEC. 11. Reading and Arithmetic Proficiency by the End of Grade HI. very child
must be an independent reader and must perform the four (4) basic arithmetic operations with
Proficiency before he/she can be promoted to Grade IV. In order for the provision of this section
to be effectively and efficiently implemented, the Department of Education, in coordination with
the National Education Testing and Research Center (NETRC), shall hereby implement an
assessment mechanism which will be nationwide in scope to determine the proficiency of every
child in reading and in the four (4) fundamental mathematical operations.

SEC. 12. Reintroduction of the Bridge Program. A year after the implementation of this
Act, the Department of Education must reintroduce the Bridge Program with focus on the
enhancement of English, Science and Math proficiency of elementary graduates and the same
shall become part of the high school curriculum. For the purpose of implementation of this


section, all elementary graduates shall be subjected to a unified assessment examination to be
devised by the Department of Education in coordination with the NETRC. Graduates who fail to
take at least 75% of the total number of items in the said assessment test shall automatically be
enrolled in the Bridge Program while those who pass the said examination shall be promoted to
First Year High School.

SEC. 13. Mandatory Review of the Secondary Education Curriculum. The DepEd is
hereby required to review the Secondary Education Curriculum and shall device a curriculum
based on the outcome of its review within two years after the implementation of this Act:

Provided, that the curriculum content for secondary education shall include, among others:

a. Integrative science, including among others, application and integration of physics,
chemistry, biology, environmental and earth science including history of science and
contribution of Filipino scientists and technologists in the development of Philippine
and world science and technology;

b. Applied mathematics, including among others, application of mathematics in physics,
chemistry, biology, business and logical thinking;

¢. Communication skills, including among others, competence in the spoken and written
language, business English, argumentation and debate, group discussion and oral
presentation; and

d. Values education, including among others, modules on peace, cultural heritage,
human rights, gender equity/equality, environment and other concerns that are
strongly linked with values and achievement of development goals.

SEC. 14, Madrasah Education. The DepEd shall, within one (1) year of implementation
of this Act, formulate and implement a standard curriculum for madaris that is culturally-
sensitive, gender-responsive and rights-based and appropriate for the Muslim population based
not only in Mindanao, but also in other areas of the country where there are significant Muslim
Population: Provided, that the DepEd shall develop and produce instructional materials on the
delivery and assessment of the standard curriculum; Provided, further, that madras teachers and
supervisors shall be trained on the delivery and assessment of the standard curriculum especially
with regard to improving their English and Filipino language skills; Provided, in addition, that in
collaboration with all stakeholders, the DepEd shall prepare and implement a catch-up plan for
madaris students that will enable them to actively participate in societal development.


SEC. 15. Indigenous Peoples (IP) Education. The DepEd, National Commission on
Indigenous Peoples and other concerned institutions shall, within one (1) year of implementation
of this Act, develop and promote a curriculum that will preserve the cultural heritage of
indigenous cultural communities, produce instructional materials and train teachers in IP schools
on the use and requirements of the IP curriculum, include IP materials and documents in public
school libraries to permit information sharing/exchange between culture. The DepEd shall,
likewise, accommodate IP students in all education programs for children/students and IP

teachers in in-service training programs.

TITLE UL
TWELVE-YEAR BASIC EDUCATION CURRICULUM

SEC. 16. Expanding the Basic Education. The present public elementary and high
school set-up is hereby reformed and expanded, the implementation of which shall be done in an
incremental manner within a period of 5 years as provided for in the previous sections of this
Act.

SEC. 17. Five (5) Year Secondary Education Curriculum. Four (4) years after the
implementation of this Act, the regular four (4) year secondary education curriculum is hereby
expanded to five (5) years with the Bridge Program as the first year curriculum. The first to
fourth year high school curriculum is hereby renamed to the next higher level.

SEC. 18. Primary and Secondary Education Curriculum Renamed. Five (5) years after
the implementation of this Act, the primary education curriculum is hereby renamed with the
Kindergarten curriculum becoming Grade 1 curriculum and the subsequent grade level
curriculum renamed to the next higher level.

The Secondary Education curriculum is likewise renamed with the first year curriculum
as Grade 8 curriculum and the subsequent curricula as grades 9 to 12, respectively. Provided,
however that grades 8 to 10 are the junior high school curricular years and grades 11 to 12 are
the senior high school curricular years.

SEC, 19. Integration of TekBok, Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship Subjects in the
Grades 8 to 10 Curriculum. TekBok, Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship subjects are hereby
integrated in the junior high school curriculum. Provided, that the manner of integration shall be
an overview of all disciplines in the TekBok, Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship and shall form
part of the Home Economics, Industrial Arts, Agriculture, Technology and Livelihood Education
and Entrepreneurship subjects. Provided, further, that the said offerings shall prepare the
students for the two (2) tracks of the senior high school curriculum.


SEC. 20. Diploma at the End of Grade 10. At the end of grade 10, all students who have
fulfilled all requirements for graduation shall be given diploma for the purpose of employment.
Provided, that only students who have taken and passed the grades 11 and 12 curriculum shall be

allowed to take college or university education.

SEC. 21, Student Options in Grades 11 and 12. Grades 11 and 12 curricula shall be
designed so that students are given the option to take either the TekBok or the Agribusiness and
Entrepreneurship tracks.

TITLE IV
TEKBOK TRACK

SEC. 22. Curriculum. The TekBok curriculum of TESDA shall be adopted by the
DepEd as one of the two (2) offerings in the senior high school curriculum. Provided, that it shall
be improved to strengthen the foundation skills of students, namely: communication skills,
quality and productivity skills, computer literacy, problem-solving skills and to an extent
entrepreneurial skills. Provided, further, that the curriculum shall also promote non-traditional
trades and jobs for both men and women and shall be adjusted to changing labor demands.
Provided, in addition, that the science, math and language content of TekBok subjects shall also
be enhanced to produce knowledge-based graduates.

SEC. 23. Values and Ethics Incorporated in the Curricula. Appropriate work values
and ethics and gender-sensitive principles and practices shall be incorporated in the TekBok

curricula.

SEC. 24, Industry Immersion Prior to Graduation. Industry immersion and
apprenticeship shall be required of grade 12 students prior to graduation where practical and
hands-on experience in occupations-related trainings are taught.

SEC. 25. Oversight Function of TESDA. \n order to ensure that TekBok school
offerings are responsive to the needs of the market and effectively carried out to meet global
standards, TESDA shall oversee the implementation of the TekBok Track. TESDA, in
coordination with DepEd, shall mandatorily review all TekBok offerings every five (5) years to
ensure that it meets global market demands.

SEC. 26. Accreditation of TekBok Curriculum Offerings. TekBok offerings in the
senior high school curriculum shall be accredited by TESDA prior to implementation. TESDA
shall also provide guidelines for the monitoring and evaluation of TekBok offerings.


TITLE V.
AGRIBUSINESS TRACK

SEC. 27. Curriculum. The Agribusiness curriculum shall be adopted by the DepEd as
one of the two (2) offerings in the senior high school curriculum. Provided, that it shall be
improved to strengthen the foundation skills of students, namely: communication skills, quality
and productivity skills, computer literacy, problem-solving skills and entrepreneurial skills.
Provided, further, that the curriculum shall also promote non-traditional agribusiness endeavors
for both men and women and shalll be adjusted to changing labor demands. Provided, in addition,
that the science, math and language content of Agribusiness subjects shall also be enhanced to
produce knowledge-based graduates.

SEC. 28. Values and Ethics Incorporated in the Curricula, Appropriate work values
and ethics and gender-sensitive principles and practices shall be incorporated in the TekBok
curricula.

SEC. 29. Industry Immersion Prior to Graduation. Immersion and apprenticeship shall
be required of grade 12 students prior to graduation where practical and hands-on experience in
occupations-related trainings are taught.

TITLE VI.
GENERAL/TRANSITORY PROVISIONS

SEC. 30, Authority to Expand Personnel Complement. — In view of the expanded
scope of the operations of the DepEd, it is hereby authorized to reorganize and expand its
personnel complement, in consultation with the Civil Service Commission and in accordance
with Section 4 hereof, in order to achieve efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of its
mandated services. The DepEd shalll hire at least 60,000 teachers annually for five (5) years to
ensure that the necessary teaching force for the 12-year basic education curriculum shall be
addressed

SEC. 31. Construction of 36,000 Classrooms Annually. The DepEd is hereby mandated
to undertake the construction of at least thirty-six thousand (63,000) classrooms annually for five
(5) years to accommodate the increasing number of enrollees of this expanded 12-year basic
education.

Sec. 32. Amendment of RA 7880. Republic Act 7880, otherwise known as the Fair and
Equitable Access to Education Act of 1994, is amended in order to allow the construction of
school buildings by entities other than the Department of Public Works and Highways and
permit completion of all construction activities before classes start in June of every year.


SEC. 32. Appropriation. An amount of thirty billion pesos (P30,000,000,000.00) is
hereby appropriated to effectively carry out the provisions of this Act upon its effectivity and
shall be automatically appropriated in the General Appropriations Act every year thereafter for
four (4) years or until all provisions of this Act have been effectively carried out. The said yearly
appropriation shall, however, be refined by DepEd on a year-to-year basis based on actual

enrolment.

SEC. 33. Separability. — Any portion or provision of this Act that may be
unconstitutional or invalid shall not have the effect of nullifying other portions or provisions
hereof as long as such portions or provisions can still subsist and be given legal force and effect

in their entirety.

SEC. 34. Repeal. — All laws, ordinances, rules, regulations and other issuances or parts
thereof, contrary to or inconsistent herewith, are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 35. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Adopted,