13'h CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
Second Regular Session 
S E N A T E  
Senate Bill No. a 
1 
INTRODUCED BY SEN. MANNY VILLAR 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Education demonstrably makes a difference in the growth and 
development of a country. The Philippines makes for a telling example: during 
the years immediately before and some years after the Second World War, when 
our country was proudly no. 2 in Asia in the quality of our education, we were, as 
well, the second-best performing economy among our ASEAN neighbors. 
Things have changed very fast however. Now that the country's quality of 
education has fast deteriorated, our economy today has made a serious turn for 
the worse. While there are other factors that may have caused out current 
economic problems, the poor quality of education could be a contributing factor. 
Information experts calculate that from the 1970's, knowledge, information 
and the progress of technology has been doubling every fifteen years. As the 
information highway is accelerating faster every year, the younger generations 
are in effect being burdened more and more with a vast and still increasing body 
of knowledge and information they have to access. 
Given this increasing body of knowledge and information; learners have to 
begin learning earlier to stay competitive. It is as much an advantage as it is a 
necessity that students become adept at learning earlier in childhood just to be 
able to learn all the fundamentals that enable them to become competitive 
players in adult economy and society. 
Amazingly though, while even English-speaking countries like the United 
Kingdom and the USA have generally two-to-three years of Early Childhood 
Education; and our ASEAN and Pacific Rim neighbors, led by Singapore and 
Malaysia, Thailand and New Zealand; with four years of pre-school, the 
Philippines has pre-school mostly in private institutions. In the public system 
however, a pre-school system is invariably inaccessible to the vast majority of 
those in the public schools. 
Republic Act No. 6972, othetwise known as the "Barangay-Level Total 
Development and Protection of Children Act", enacted into law November 1990, 
declares it a policy of the State 'Yo defend the rights of children to assistance, 
including proper care and nutrition, and to provide them with special protection 
against all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation and other conditions 
prejudicial to their development" and the Day Care program was thus established 
to implement this policy. 


The Day Care program of the government provides a place for children 
younger than school age; community-based facilities provide temporary care for 
children during the day thus allowing parents to pursue other productive 
activities. The Day Care Centers are also by design, under the provisions of R.A. 
8990 also known as the “Early Childhood Care and Development Act” became 
learning facilities with the intent of preparing these children for eventual entry into 
the formal school system. 
The approximately 29,399 Day Care Centers throughout the country are 
staffed by about 29,072 day care workers; who are on the whole volunteers who 
also assist the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) during 
calamities and facilitate the referral of cases of child abuse to the DSWD. 
These Day Care Centers provide an opportunity. for the government to 
provide pre-school education across the country. This bill in part intends to 
institutionalize pre-school education in the country through the conversion of 
Barangay Day Care Centers into Barangay Pre-school thereby providing entry- 
level preparatory education for our nation’s children. 
This bill proposes a two-level compulsory preparatory public education, 
which will be named Kindergarten 1 and Kindergarten 2 respectively (Kinder 1 
and 2 for short). Kinder 1 will be provided by the converted Day Care Centers 
into Community Pre-schools financed in part by their respective Local 
Government Units with assistance from’ the Local School Board among other 
stakeholders; and Kinder 2 will be provided by the public elementary schools 
under the Department of Education (Dep. Ed.) 
In the spirit of our Constitution that mandates the government to promote 
the rights of all citizens to quality education and to take appropriate actions to 
make such education possible to all; and to establish, maintain and support a 
completely adequate and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of 
the people of society, the immediate passage of this bill is requested. 


13fh CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
Second Regular Session 
_ _  
INTRODUCED BY SEN. MANNY VILLAR 
AN ACT 
EDUCATION 
INSTITUTIONALIZING PRE-SCHOOLS AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF BASIC 
Be enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
Philippines in Congress assembled: 
SECTION I. 
Shod TiNe. - This Act shall be known as the “National 
Education Act.” 
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the 
Government to provide pre-school education for children by institutionalizing the 
Day Care Learning Centers into Pre-schools to provide Kindergarten 1 education 
for children three (3) to four (4) years of age; and to provide a school-based 
Kindergarten 2 education for children five (5) years of age in the Public School 
System. 
SECTION 3. Two-Level Structure of Preparafory Education. - To fully 
provide the necessary preparation for the nation’s students to enter public 
elementary education, there shall be two (2) levels of public preparatory 
education to wit: 
1. 
Kindergarten One (Kinder I), 
provided to children three (3) to 
four (4) years of age. 


2. 
Kindergarten Two (Kinder 2), provided to children five (5) years 
of age or children who have not yet reached the age of six (6) 
years old. 
By the beginning of School Year 2007-2008, no student may be admitted 
a public elementary school without completing at least one (1) year of 
preparatory school, Provided, That the public elementary school offering 
admission provides at Kindergarten classes and/or there is a public pre-school 
offering admission within a reasonable distance from the public elementary 
school offering admission. 
SECTION 4. Community Pre-Schools. - Community Day Care Centers 
shall be converted into Community Pre-Schools. These Pre-Schools shall 
provide at least Kinder I between the two preparatory education levels. The 
funding of these schools should be provided by their respective Local 
Government Units (LGUs) with the assistance of their respective municipal or city 
school board, their respective Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) and/or other 
stakeholders 
SECTION 5. Pre-Schools in Public Elementary Schools. - Public 
Elementary Schools shall be provided at least Kinder 2 among the two 
preparatory education levels; the funding of which shall be provided by the 
annual budget of the Department of Education (Dep. Ed.) as incorporated in the 
annual General Appropriations Act or other funding sources as the National 
Government shall provide or arrange. 
SECTION 6. implementation of Policy. - In order to ensure that the 
declared policy of this Act shall be implemented in an appropriate and efficient 
manner: 
(a) The Department of Education (Dep. Ed.), not later than December 31, 
2006 shall formulate and prescribe the standardized curricula for the 
two levels of preparatory education, including the formulation and 
development of the teachers’ and pupils’ materials and general 


guidelines for the organization and operation of pre-schools as well as 
determine and approve textbooks and instructional materials 
necessary for the effective implementation of preparatory public 
education, as part of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of this 
Act. 
(b) The Dep. Ed. shall also formulate and prescribe the qualifications of 
preparatory education teachers. 
(c) The Dep. Ed. Shall design and conduct a training program for public 
school teachers that will enable them to effectively function as pre- 
school teachers. 
(d) The Dep. Ed. Shall design and conduct a training program for the Day 
Care Center Workers presently serving as volunteer teachers without 
the necessary qualifications and training for pre-school teaching. 
SECTION 7. Salaty of Pre-school teachers. - A pre-school teacher shall 
receive a monthly basic salary based on the compensation of teachers as shall 
be determined by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) as 
recommended by the Dep. Ed. 
SECTION 8. Repealing Clause. - All laws, presidential decrees, executive 
orders, rules and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this 
Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. 
SECTION 9. Hfecfivity. - This Act shall take effect immediately upon its 
approval. 
Approved,