To provide teachers more opportunities for career growth and professional development, Senator Sherwin Gatchalin believes promotions should be based on merit rather than quotas.
Gatchalian made this point during a hearing by a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Civil Service, Government Reorganization and Professional Regulation, which tackled proposed measures on the Career Progression System for Public School Teachers.
“The quota is a limiting factor for growth. That’s why they cannot grow because there is a quota. Even though we have a career progression, if a quota is imposed, it will hinder its effect,” said Gatchalian.
“It has to be merit-based, it should not be quota-based,” the chair of the subcommittee said.
His office studied the career progression system before the signing of Executive Order No. 174, which created an expanded career progression systrem for public school teachers.
The study found that only 14% of Teachers III would be promoted to Master Teacher I, and the promotion process could take 10 to 15 years. It also showed that just 7% of Teacher III would become Head Teachers, and only 5% of Teachers III promoted to Master Teachers IV could advance to school principal.
According to the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II), the quota system that hinders teachers’ promotion was established under the Position Classification and Compensation Scheme.
Teachers I-III make up 92% of the teachers in the Department of Education. Four out of 10 (44%) Teachers II have served for more than 10 years, while 65% of Teachers III have also been in service for over a decade, analysis of the senator’s office also revealed.
Gatchalian filed Senate Bill No. 2827 or the Career Progression System for Public School Teachers Act to establish the Career Progression System for Public School Teachers.
The proposal seeks to create more opportunities for teachers in teaching, school administration, or supervision.IMT
