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

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

5974

House Bill No. ~~

Introduces by Honorable Sherwin T. Gatchalian

—_———

Explanatory Note

Under Art. XIV, Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution, “the State shall
protect and promote ,the right of all c to qual"y education at all levels
and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all”. To
this end, we seek the enactment of a law that will mandate the creation of a
National Public School Database.

‘The primary purpose of this act is to promote easier access to education
for the public by streamlining the enrolnient process. The National Public
School Database will therefore make the administrative tasks of the teachers
more efficient.

The National Public School Database also serves as a layer of protection
for the safe-keeping of student records. Creating a database would provide a
storage mechanism for the school records of the s‘udents. Documents are
prone to getting lost anc! deterioration due to human error, flood, fire, and
other natural disasters. Gioring student records in a database ensures that
there is another s¢ ¢ of information in case the documents get lost or

destroyed. a.
In view of the foregoing, immediate  p: odie. afid approval of this
legislation is earnestly sought.



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

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

House Bill No. _59'74
2

Introduced by Honorable Sherwin T, Gatchalian
_—_—_—$_—_————

AN ACT ’
MANDATING THE AUTOMATION OF A NATIONAL PUBLIC SCHOO!
DATABASE

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 “Public School
Database Act of 2015”. i

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. ~ It is the policy of the State to establish
and maintain a complete, adequate and integrated system of education
relevant to the goals of national development. Toward this end, the government
shall ensure the promotion of an efficient access to both Elementary and
Secondary education for the Public.

SEC. 3. Coverage. - This Act shall apply to and govern public schools in
both primary and secondary levels of the entire educational system.

SEC. 4. Definition of Terms. - The following terms, for the purposes of
this Act, shall be defined as follows:

a) “Schools” are duly established institutions of learning of
educational institutions.

b) “Public Schools” are educational institutions established and
administered by the government.

©) “Database” is a collection of information that is organized so that it
sed, managed, and updated.

can easily be acc!


d) “School Administrators” are teachers or administrative staff in a
public school that are in charge with Student Records and other
documents. *

SEC. 5. National Public School Information Office. - The Department
of Education (DEPED) Secretary shall establish a National Public School
Information Office that shall:

a) Develop, operate and maintain a database that shall contain
student information including but not limited to the following:

a. School Grades
b. Personal Data

c. Good Moral Record

d. Improvement Tracking

b) Manage grant assistance from the National Government provided
to public school

¢) Assess, in coordination with other Government agencies, the
demand for professional skills and training needed to respond to
current and anticipated technical problems.

SEC. 6, Database Information Program. - The purpose of the program
shall be to train educational professionals in the development and maintenance
of database information.

SEC. 7. Database :Access. - The National Public School Database shall
be accessible to School Administrators for accessing Student Records including
recording biographical data for all students, handling admissions, discharges,
and transfers to other schools, and recording other student-specific data, such
as exam scores, grade levels, attendance, and immunization records.

SEC. 8. Illegal Use of the Database. - No person shall use, access or
utilize the National Public School Database cxcept for the reasons mentioned in.
Sec. 7 of this Act.

SEC. 9. Penalties. ~ Any person caught illegally altering or falsifying
student information in the database shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of
not less than six months nor more than one year or a fine of not less than


P10,000 nor more than P50,000 or both such imprisonment and fine, at the
discretion of the court.

SEC. 10. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within (60) days
from the effectivity of this Act, the Department of Education shall promulgate
the implementing rules and regulations as may be necessary to ensure the
efficient and effective implementation of this Act.

SEC. 11. Separability Clause. - Should any part of this Act be
declared unconstitutional, the rest of the provisions of this Act shall continue
to be in effect and subsisting. .

SEC. 12 Repealing Clause. ~ The provisions of other laws, decrees,
executive orders, rules and regulations inconsistent with this Act are hereby
repealed, amended, or modified accordingly

SEC. 13. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette and/or in at least two (2) national
newspapers in general circulation.