INIHAYAG ni Senador Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian ang layuning magsagawa ng oversight review sa papel ng Department of Education (DepEd) sa Teacher Education Council (TEC) hinggil sa hamon na kinahaharap nito upang mapahusay ang kalidad sa pagtuturo ng mga guro.

Sa pahayag, sinabi ni Gatchalian, chairman ng Senate Basic Education Committee na itinatag ang council noong 1994 sa pamamagitan ng Republic Act No. 7784 upang mapalakas ang edukasyon at pagsasanay ng mga guro sa bansa.

Aniya, isa sa pangunahing tungkulin ng Council ay magdisenyo ng collaborative program o projects na magpapatingkad sa pre-service teacher training, in-service training re-training, orientation, at teacher development. Ang kalihim ng Department of Education (DepEd) ang ex-officio chairman ng Council.

“But despite the Council’s creation, the Department of Education (DepEd) only takes part in teachers’ in-service education and training through its professional development arm, the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP), which up-skills and reskills teachers,” ayon sa mambabatas.

Kinuwestiyon din ng mambabatas ang administrasyon ng pre-service education ng mga guro na hawak ng Commission on Higher Education (CHED) at sa Teacher Education Institutions. “Pre-service refers to the training before they become classroom teachers and in-service refers to those working as teachers.”

“There is a need to strengthen the link between the pre-service and the in-service trainings of teachers, emphasizing that it is equally pressing to focus on the quality of teachers as the education system enters the new normal where discussions should not only focus on the alternate methods of learning delivery amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” giit ni Gatchalian.

Ipinakikita sa resulta ng Philippines Public Education Expenditure Tracking and Quantitative Service Delivery Study (PETS-QSDS) World Bank na kapos sa kasanayan ang mga titser sa elementarya at sekondarya na magturo ng mas malaking bahagi ng K to 12 curriculum.

Iginiit ni Gatchalian na kung hindi sapat ang kasanayan at kaalaman ng mga guro, patuloy na babagsak ang performance ng mga estudyante. (ESTONG REYES)