Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. __7328

Introduced by ANG PROBINSYANO
Party-List Representative Alfred Delos Santos

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Article II, Section 17 of the 1987 Constitution declares that it is the State’s
policy to “give priority to education...to foster patriotism and nationalism,
accelerate social progress, and promote total human liberation and
development.” Also, Article XIV of the same Constitution is wholly devoted to
provisions furthering the import that the government must give to Education as
a sector. Under Section 1 thereof, “(t]he 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 line with that, under Section 2(1),
the State is tasked with “[e]stablish[ing], maintain[ing], and support[ing] a
complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of
the people and society.”

These policies impose upon Congress the responsibility of ensuring that
students, who need special education (SPED), are not left behind. Carrying out
such a duty necessitates securing enough SPED teachers for public schools,
especially in rural areas, where private institutions concentrating on SPED may
not be accessible or affordable. It is in such locations that the Department of
Education’s (DepEd) SPED Centers must be particularly supported.

This is in light of the fact that enrollment SPED students has consistently
been on the rise in the past years, and yet SPED Centers continue to be plagued
by staffing problems—not enough SPED qualified teachers; General Education
teachers being forced to take on SPED classes without being given adequate,
much less sustained, training and materials; and seasoned SPED teachers
leaving the country for posts in foreign schools.

At this rate, the Congress must intervene again, through this Bill, which
shall have the following primary measures: 1) promoting the DepEd’s hiring of


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teachers who have majored in SPED and are therefore already equipped with the
skills and knowledge to handle SPED classes; 2) providing updated training and
supplementary materials to General Education teachers who are currently
handling SPED classes; and 3) calling for the prioritization of SPED Centers in
rural areas, with respect to the first two projects.

It is for the foregoing premises that the approval of this Bill is earnestly

sought.

ALFRED C. DELOS SANTOS
Representative, Ang Probinsyano Party-List



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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

House Bit no. __ 7328

Introduced by ANG PROBINSYANO
Party-List Representative Alfred Delos Santos

AN ACT PROMOTING THE CAPABILITIES AND NUMBER OF SPECIAL
EDUCATION TEACHERS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, ESPECIALLY IN RURAL
AREAS

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 “SPED Teaching
Force Act.”

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. - The State recognizes its duties of
pushing for inclusive education (IE), with the interests of students with special
needs being proactively defended. As such, the State acknowledges the necessity
of enacting measures to increase the ranks of Special Education (SPED) teachers
in the Department of Education’s (DepED) SPED Centers.

SECTION 3. Promoting the Capabilities of SPED Teachers. —- For General
Education teachers who have been stationed in SPED Centers, the DepEd shall
provide them with regular, mandatory training, on both the conceptual aspects
of SPED and on the best practices for conducting SPED classes

To supplement their trainings, during the periods between trainings, the
teachers shall also be regularly provided with updated materials. These materials
may come with basic, adaptable teaching aids, to streamline teachers’
implementation of their new skills.

‘The DepEd shall institutionalize a feedback mechanism to be used by the
participants of each training. The DepEd shall likewise establish a review system
that will gather and synthesize such data and then use the same to evaluate the
usefulness, responsiveness, and efficacy of the trainings. For the purpose of the
review, the individual trainings may be suitably grouped or clustered.


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SECTION 4. Increasing the Numbers of SPED Teachers in Public Schools. ~
The DepEd shall endeavor to provide the SPED Centers with more SPED-
majoring teachers by:

1. Increasing the items available for SPED-majoring teachers, and then
hiring as needed to fill such positions;

2. Creating sponsorship or scholarship programs whereby General
Education teachers, from both private and public schools, can undergo
graduate training on SPED, with the attached condition that, upon
becoming bona fide SPED-qualified teachers, they then shall serve, full-
time, for a certain number of years, in a SPED Center; and

3. Creating Adopt-a-School programs specifically for SPED Centers,
whereby private sponsors give monetary aid that go directly to hiring
additional SPED-majoring teachers for their respective adopted
Centers.

SECTION 5. Prioritization for Public Schools in Rural Areas. - It shall be the
policy, under this Act, to give special attention to the immediate training and
staffing needs of SPED Centers in rural areas. This policy shall be directly
applied to, or enforced as to, the budgeting for this Act’s implementation.

SECTION 6. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The DepEd, as the lead
implementing agency for this Act, shall be responsible for coming out with the
Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). In drafting the IRR, the DepEd shall
obtain the input of the SPED Centers, nationwide.

Additionally, the DepEd may convene for consultations with both
government agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs) that cater to the
needs of persons with disabilities (PWDs), and, specifically, children with special
needs (CSN).

SECTION 7. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part of this Act is
held invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions or parts unaffected
shall remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 12. Repealing Clause. - All laws, executive orders, presidential
decrees or issuances, letters of instruction, administrative orders, rules, and
regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby
repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.

SECTION 13. Effectivity Clause. ~ This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days
after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general
circulation.


Approved,