FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
First Regular Session 
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Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Constitution, Article 15, Section 1, provides: 
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. 
Recent studies have shown that the quality and rigor of the secondary school 
program of study is the most effective predictor of success in post-secondary education. 
Unfortunately, most high school institutions in the country are ill equipped to provide 
relevant and quality education. 
Hence, this bill seeks to structure reforms in secondary education in order to 
provide students with effective schools that - 
(1) have high academic and behavioural standards for their students; 
(2) clearly communicate standards and provide students with the necessary 
support and opportunities to meet those standards; 
(3) connect students to adults in meaninghl ways; 
(4) connect students to possible futures in college and the workforce; and 
(5) provide families with useful information about how their children are 
doing and about their futures. 


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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC ) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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First Regular Session 
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SENATE 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
INTRODUCING EDUCATIONAL REFORMS AND SUPPORTING THE PLANNING 
AND IMPLEMENTATION OF EDUCATIONAL REFORMS IN SECONDARY 
INSTITUTIONS 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "High School Reform 
Act." 
SECTION 2. Purposes. -The purposes of this Act are to - 
(A) support the planning and implementation of educational reforms in high 
schools, particularly in urban and rural high schools that educate concentrations of 
students !?om low income families, in order to meet the needs of students at risk of 
failing to achieve the challenging standards, by strengthening cumculum and instruction, 
offering extended learning opportunities, and providing professional development 
opportunities to the school staff; 
(B) support the further development of educational reforms, designed specifically 
for high schools that - 
(1) help students meet the challenging standards; 
(2) increase connections between students and adults and provide safe 
learning environments; 
(3) create positive incentives for serious change in high schools, by 
offering rewards to participating schools that achieve significant improvements in 
student achievement; and 
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(4) increase the national knowledge base of effective high school reforms 
by identifying the most effective approaches and disseminating information on 
those approaches so that they can be adopted nationally. 
SECTION 3. Comprehensive Reforms Program. - The Secretary of Education 
(hereinafter referred to as “Secretary”), through the use of appropriated funds, shall 
develop and innovate a comprehensive reforms program to be applied to all secondary 
schools nationwide, that shall critically assess and evaluate existing curricula, programs 
and activities, ensuring that the same are in conformity with the principles and 
components provided in Section 4. 
SECTION 4. Principles and Components of Educational Reforms. - 
(A) PRINCIPLES. - Each high school, through the supervision of the Secretary of 
Education shall ensure that the reforms to be adopted are designed so that each assisted 
high school - 
(1) is a place where students receive individual attention and 
support, through such strategies as creating smaller learning environments, 
such as “schools within schools” and career academies and providing 
students with counsellors and mentors; 
(2) provides all students in the school with challenging course 
work, aligned with content and performance standards, through such 
strategies as the use of technology to enhance academic instruction and the 
establishment or expansion of international baccalaureate programs or 
advanced placement programs; 
(3) is a place where students are motivated to learn, through such 
strategies as applied learning and linking arts, music, and cultural 
opportunities with the school, both during and after the normal school day; 
(4) enables students to receive an education that is continuous and 
integrated, through such strategies as partnerships with institutions of 
higher education; 
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(5) helps students to achieve their educational and career goals, 
through such strategies as integrated academic and vocational instruction 
that connects students with career opportunities; and for functions as a 
center for the community, through such strategies as increasing the 
involvement of parents, employers, and others in the community. 
(B) REQUIRED COMPONENTS - In order to institutionalize the principles 
described in subsection (A), the Secretary of Education shall appropriate funds to 
implement research-based educational reform strategies for eventual implementation 
throughout the entire school that - 
(1) in the case of a school with a school-wide program, build on, and 
improve the school-wide reform program; and 
(2) address the needs of students who are at risk of failing to be promoted 
to the next grade or to graduate, including - 
(a) covering material that students need to master in order to pass 
mandated entrance exams; and 
(b) strengthening curriculum, instruction, and assessments and by 
offering extended learning opportunities such as after school, weekend, 
and summer programs; 
(3) make full and effective use of the resources that the school receives 
under other programs of the department; 
(4) make use of outside experts in high school reform, unless it can he 
shown to the satisfaction of the Secretary, that the school’s reform strategy can be 
implemented effectively without outside assistance; 
(5) include professional development of school staff, including 
development of the skills needed to use student achievement and other outcome 
data to refine and improve the educational reform strategy; and 
(6) provide for collecting data on, and evaluating, the reforms and for 
reporting to the Secretary on the results of those evaluations. 
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SECTION 5. Additional Activities. - 
(A) The Secretary may select a random sample of schools to participate in an 
incentive-based experiment, under which the Secretary makes incentive payments to 
teachers and administrators in the grantee schools if, after three (3) years of program 
participation, their students demonstrate significant gains in student educational 
outcomes. 
(B) The Secretary may - 
(1) recognize high schools and high school reforms that show outstanding 
results; 
(2) disseminate information on those schools and reforms; 
(3) carry out other activities to encourage the spread and adoption of 
successful high school reform strategies; 
(4) facilitate the creation of networks among participating schools and 
local educational agencies, which may include schools and local educational 
agencies interested in meeting the purpose of this part; and 
(5) pay the costs of the peer review of applications under this part. 
(C) The Secretary may reserve funds to evaluate activities carried out under this 
Act. 
SECTION 6. Funding. - For the purpose of carrying out this Act, there are 
authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary. 
SECTION 7. Separability Clause. - If any provision, or part hereof, is held 
invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise 
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affected shall remain valid and subsisting. 
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accordingly. 
SECTION 8. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, 
executive order, letter of instruction, administrative order, nile or regulation contrary to 
or inconsistent with, the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, modified, or amended 
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SECTION 9. ESfectivity Clause. -This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after 
its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
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Approved. 
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