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Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives
Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

Housé But No, 9015

Introduced by: REPRESENTATIVE ABIGAIL FAYE C. FERRIOL

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The importance of education is emphasized in the 1987 Constitution. Article II, Section
17 of the Constitution provides that:

The State shall give priority to education, science and technology, arts,
culture, and sports to foster patriotism and nationalism, accelerate social
progress, and promote total human liberation and development.

Moreover, Article XIV, Section 2 (1) provides that the State shall:

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

Notwithstanding these policies, the quality of education in this country remains a
perennial problem. This measure aims to improve the quality of education by upgrading the
knowledge, competence and skills of the teachers in the public school system. Providing all
these teachers the opportunity to pursue further studies will help contribute to the improvement
of the entire public school system. The teachers will be able to acquire relevant knowledge,
hone their craft and will become better educators in taking advantage of further education.
Completing their postgraduate studies will also contribute to the teachers’ own personal
development.

With majority of public school teachers completing their postgraduate studies, the public
schools will be no longer lag behind the private schools in terms of the quality of teaching
personnel. Investing in human capital will be a complementary action to the spending done in
the building of classrooms and other infrastructure. These are all directed to one goal — the
improvement of the state of education in our country. By equipping our teachers with additional
skills and knowledge, it is the students who will ultimately benefit from this measure. By
investing in our teachers, we are investing in the people primarily tasked in facilitating their
learning process.

ABIGAIL \YE C, FERRIOL
Representative
Kalinga Party list


Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives
Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. 5515

Introduced by: REPRESENTATIVE ABIGAIL FAYE C. FERRIOL

AN ACT GRANTING SCHOLARSHIP TO ALL PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS AND
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER 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 “Continuing Education for
Public School Teachers Act."

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. — It shall be the policy of the State to give priority to
education as a means of cultivating patriotism and nationalism, attaining social progress, and
promoting total human liberation and development. In the same vein, the state shall also
establish, maintain, and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education.

SEC. 3. Continuing Education Program. - As a means of improving the quality of
education in the country, all teachers in the public school system are encouraged to pursue
postgraduate studies. The Department of Education (DepEd) and Commission on Higher
Education (CHED) shall implement a scholarship program to enable public school teachers to
pursue further studies.

SEC. 4. Coverage. — All teachers in the public school system (elementary, secondary
and collegiate level) are eligible to avail of the scholarship program.

SEC, 5. Scope of the Scholarship Grant. - The scholarship grant for public school
teachers shall cover the full cost of the tuition fee of the postgraduate study, be it a master’s
degree or a doctorate degree. The scholarship grant may be used in any of the state colleges
and universities in the country. Under the scholarship program, a teacher may avail of a
maximum of 2 postgraduate degrees within a 5-year period.

A stipend of P20,000 per semester would also be given under the scholarship program
to help the teachers shoulder other school-related expenses. During the course of the
implementation of the scholarship program, the Department of Education (DepEd) and
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) may adjust the stipend accordingly to account for
inflation.

SEC. 6. Service Requirement. ~ A teacher shall continue serving in the public school
system for a minimum period of 2 years after availing of the scholarship grant. The 2-year period


shall commence from the last month of the semester when the teacher availed of the
scholarship grant, The 2-year period shall be applied to the latest scholarship grant availed by
the teacher.

SEC. 7. Funding. - The amount necessary for the effective implementation of this Act
shall be charged to the appropriations for the Department of Education (DepEd) and
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) under the current General Appropriations Act (GAA),
Thereafter, such sum as may be necessary for the continued implementation of this Act shall be
included in the annual GAA.

SEC 8, Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Department of Education
(DepEd) and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) shall shall promulgate such rules and
regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this Act within a period of two (2) months
from the approval hereof.

SEC 9. Separability Clause. — If, for any reason, any section or provision of this Act is
declared to be unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions thereof which are not
affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.

SEC. 10. Repealing Clause. ~All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations
which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, amended or modified
accordingly.

SEC. 11. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect thirty (15) days after its
complete publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) national newspapers of general
circulation.

Approved,