SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )

Third Regular Session )
SENATE "8 M16 Pad
Senate Bill No. 1878 bk

Introduced by Senator Grace Poe

AN ACT
REGULATING CLASS SIZE IN ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND APPROPRIATING
FUNDS THEREFOR

Explanatory Note

Education is the foundation of our nation. As enshrined in Article XIV, Section
1 of the 1987 Constitution: 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.

Of the estimated 68 million Filipinos aged 10 years old and over in 2008, 95.6
percent are basically literate while functional literacy rate is at 86.4 percent.! The high
literacy rate in the country were achieved through the campaign of the government,
Particularly DepEd, to bring more school-age children to school.2

However, it is not enough to just bring in students to school. We must ensure
that learning actually happens once they are in school. Class size is one factor to
consider when evaluating a school’s effectiveness. Education researchers have found
that class size reduction in the early grade helps students achieve because there is a
greater opportunity for individual interaction between student and teacher in a small

qy\iational Statistics Office 2008 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey
(FLEMMS). Basic literacy or simple literacy refers to the ability of a person to read and write with
understanding a simple message in language or dialect. Functionally literate refers to a person who can
read, write and compute or one who can read, write, compute and comprehend.

* https://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog/lteracy-dally/2015/08/06/literacy-in-the-philippines-
the-stories-behind-the-numbers.



class. Based on a large number of studies, smaller classes have witnessed Positive and
sometimes enduring effects on student achievement, especially for ethnic minority
students and students from low socio-economic status groups.? Studies have indeed
shown that elementary schools with large classes were found to be detrimental to
student learning. 4

Unfortunately, limited resources resulted to a worsening shortage of teachers
and classrooms. At the start of school year 2018, more or less 70% of the schools in
Metro Manila are still implementing double shifts just to be able to accommodate the
‘student population.’ In order to accommodate a growing school-age population, the
Department of Education has coped with these shortages by allowing extremely large
class sizes,

Classrooms in the Philippines are the most crowded in Asia. Some public schools
including Navotas National High School and President Corazon Aquino Elementary
School in Metro Manila, Gov DM Elementary School in Imus Cavite, and Malingao
Elementary School in Midsayap, Cotabato are just glimpses of the class size problem.
The country’s public elementary school’s average class size of 43.9 is far bigger than
Malaysia’s 31.7, Thailand’s 22.9, Japan’s 28.6, and India’s 40. In Public secondary
schools, the country registered an average size of 56.1, higher than Malaysia’s 34,
Thailand's 41.5, Japan's 33. 9 and India’s 39.

Further, oversized public school classes not only deny Filipino school children
quality education but also deny teachers just compensation and humane working
conditions. In the current system, a teacher handling a class of 70 students is in fact
taking on the workload of two teachers, but without receiving any additional
compensation. This practice of assigning oversized classes to teachers without extra
Pay is one instance where they are “overworked yet underpaid”.

3 Folmer-Annevelink, Elvira, Simone Doolaard, Mayra Mascarefio, and Roel J. Bosker. "Class
Size Effects on The Number and Types of Student-Teacher Interactions in Primary Classrooms." The
Journal of Classroom Interaction 45, no. 2 (2010): 30-38. http://www jstor.org/stable/23870349.

* Ready, Douglas D., and Valerie E. Lee. “Optimal Context Size in Elementary Schools:
Disentangling the Effects of Class Size and School Size." Brookings Papers on Education Policy, no. 9
(2006): 99-135. http://www. jstor.org/stable/20067279,

5 http://www.manilatimes.net/lack-of-classrooms-books-hound-june-4-school-
opening/401388/.



This bill seeks to address these concerns by mandating the regulation of class
size in public schools and prescribing additional compensation for teachers handling
large classes.

(GRACE POE



SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE ) ‘
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES) eos
Third Regular Session )

SENATE 18 IG P44

Senate Bill No. 1878 b Z

Le vA
Introduced by Senator Grace Poe

AN ACT
REGULATING CLASS SIZE IN ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND APPROPRIATING
FUNDS THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines
in Congress assembled.

Section 1. Title. — This Act shall be known as the “Class Size Act”.

Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is the declared Policy of the State to protect
and promote the right of all citizens to quality education. It is likewise declared that
the State shall provide just compensation and humane working conditions for public
school teachers.

Oversized classes in the country’s public schools adversely affect the learning
experience provided to Filipino schoolchildren. To ensure access to quality education,
it is necessary to establish standards for class size.

For their part, teachers are entitled to protection from unregulated increases in
class size as well as to compensation commensurate to their actual workload.

Sec. 3. Coverage. This Act shall apply to all classes in all public schools of the
Department of Education, and to all classroom teachers therein, whether paid by the
national or local government.

Sec. 4. Standard Class Size. — Each class to be handled by a single teacher
shall have a standard size of 35 students. For purposes of this Act, any class with not
More than 35 students shall be considered a standard class.



Sec. 5. Large Class Size. - Any class exceeding 35 students up to a maximum
of 50 students shall be considered a large class. In no case shall a class size in excess
of 50 students be permitted.

Sec. 6. Large Class Honorarium. - A teacher handling a large class shall be
entitled to a large honorarium equivalent to one percent (1.0%) of her daily rate for
every student in excess of the standard class size of 35.

This formula shall apply to all classes assigned to the teacher during the school
year

Sec. 7. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Department of Education
shall within a period of thirty (30) days from the effectivity of this Act, promulgate the
rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of this Act.

Sec. 8. Appropriations. - The amount of Five Billion Pesos (P5,000,000,000) is
hereby appropriated for the initial implementation of this Act. Thereafter, such sums
as may be necessary for the continued implementation of this Act shall be included in
the appropriations for the Department of Education in the annual General
Appropriations Act.

Sec. 9. Separability Clause. - If any portion or provision of this Act is held
unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act or any provisions not affect thereby shall
remain in force and effect.

Sec. 10. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance executive
order, letter of instruction, rule or regulation inconsistent with the provisions of this
Act is hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Sec. 11. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days following
its complete publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation

Approved,