Various Laws Affecting Teachers and Schools

The history of Education in the Philippines go way back to the ancient times, ancient

Philippines, children were given the rudiments of education. Such education was both

academic and vocation. The father trained his sons to be warriors, hunters, fishermen,

miners, lumbermen cooking, gardening, serving and other household arts. It i s said that

in ancient Panay, there was a barangay school called Bothoan under the charge of the

teacher usually an old man. The subjects taught to the children in this barangay school

were reading, writing, arithmetic, use of weapons and lubus (acquiring kinaadman or

amulets).

Hence, education during that time was geared toward their needs. Because of

colonization by several foreign countries and several historical events, our education

underwent several changes although we also retained some of the ancien t teachings

which are practical even during our time. There are various laws that affects teachers

and their respective schools, one of the many is the Republic Act No. 4670 these are the

rights and the privileges of the teachers. Consent for Transfer- stating “No teacher

shall be transferred without his consent from one station to another. Safeguards in

disciplinary procedure- right to be informed, in writing, of the charges, right to full

access to the evidence in the case, right to defend himself and to be defended by a

representative, right to appeal to clarify designated authorities. Confidentiality of case,

Academic Freedom, Teaching Hours, Prohibition of Deduction on salaries. These

are the laws that prohibits the teachers from doing it, the Republic Act No. 7610 or the
Special protection of children against abuse, exploitation ad discrimination act.

Constitutes the child abuse- Psychological and physical abuse, any act by deeds or

words, unreasonable deprivation of his basic needs for survival such as foods and shelter

and failure to give medical treatment to an injured child. The Republic Act No. 7877 or

the Anti-Sexual Harassment act of 1995 is the act that constitutes any kinds of

harassment; Work related harassment, Education or training related.

These laws and privileges are important to the teachers for their protection also,

because as of today many teachers are being bullied, molested, killed by a student and

also discrimination towards them. Sometimes, teachers are not being defended by the

laws. Teaching are the only job in the Philippines that has low salary but bigger

workloads, compared to other jobs it is the only job that others look down.

The key issues and problems in Philippine education which need further debate and depth
analysis as well as immediate resolution include the following:

1. Deteriorating quality of education

It is uncommon to hear college teachers decry the quality of students that come to them.
They lament the students’ inability to construct a correct sentence, much less a paragraph.
Private schools have been assailed as profit-making institutions turning out half-baked
graduates who later become part of the nation’s educated unemployed. All these are indications
of the poor quality of education.

2. Colonial, feudal, imperial, commercial, and elitist orientation in Philippine education

A rather sweeping indictment is that the Philippine educational system has been and
still is basically American in orientation and objectives. Even now, despite years of
independence, our educational system has not succeeded in eliminating the chronic colonial
mentality which abounds like a mental blight within or without the academe. At present, quality
education is financial-capacity based, making higher education more of a privilege rather than
a right.
3. Shortage of school buildings, textbooks and equipment

Since 1960, elementary enrolment has been expanding at the rapid rate of 4% a year
owing to increase in the number of children and in the enrolment ratio.

The shortages of classrooms and textbooks are particularly severe. The nationwide
classroom shortage is estimated to be 40,000 and the DECS (now DepEd) operates two shifts
in many schools. The textbook problem is even more serious. A survey done in preparation for
a World Bank education loan found that the pupil-textbook ration in the public elementary
schools is 10:1 and 79% of the textbooks are more than 5 years old. This situation has persisted
for many years.

4. Overworked and underpaid teaching staff

Teaching has often been referred to as the “most notable of all professions.” To many
teachers, however, the noble image of their profession has been transformed into an illusion.
Over the last three decades, we have come to think of the Filipino teachers as overworked and
underpaid professionals.

The fact that teachers are paid subsistence wages is only half of their sad story. Their daily bout

5. Bilingual policy and the problem of a national language

The bilingual policy in education aims to develop a Filipino who is proficient in both
English and Filipino. For the past 20 years, since the DECS adopted the bilingual policy,
Tagalog-based Pilipino has been used to teach over half of the subjects in the elementary and
secondary curriculum of both public and private schools. Mathematics and the natural sciences
continue to be taught in English. Despite the findings of the Ateneo Social Weather Survey that
92% of Filipinos already speak and understand Tagalog, many provinces north and south of
Metro Manila still encounter problems with the language. This is unfortunate because Pilipino
is used in nationally conducted exams and tests. While the bilingual policy is a law which not
even the Secretary of Education can change, it has become a growing concern that many
students are deficient in communication skills.

6. Mismatch

The major problem of the tertiary level is the large proportion of the so called
“mismatch” between training and actual jobs, as well as the existence of a large group of
educated unemployed or underemployed. The literature points out that this could be the result
of a rational response to a dual labor market where one sector is import-substituting and highly-
protected with low wages. Graduates may choose to “wait it out” until a job opportunity in the
high paying sector comes.

7. Globalization issue in education

It is in the educational sector where the concept of globalization is further refined and
disseminated. It comes in varied forms as “global competitiveness,” “the information
highway,” “the Third Wave Theory,” “post modern society,” “the end of history,” and
“borderless economy.”

The so-called Philippines 2000 was launched by the Philippine government to promote “global
competitiveness,” Philippine Education 2000 carried it to effect through training of more
skilled workers and surplus Filipino human power for foreign corporations to reduce their cost
of production.
 School Discipline

Every school shall maintain discipline inside the school campus as well as outside the

school premises. These ae the offenses may be punishable by suspension or expulsion, Gross

misconduct, cheating and stealing, assaulting a teacher, smoking within the school premises,

Vandalism, Gambling, Drinking, carrying deadly weapons, Immorality, Forging or tampering

the school records of the school.

The attendance and the punctuality are the major aspects in School discipline, regularity

of attendance and punctuality are required in all classes. Attendances of pupils in special

holidays, activities relative to religion shall be allowed provided permission of the school head.

Absences are prohibited if it exceeds 20 percent of the prescribed number of class or

laboratory periods. Habitual tardiness especially during the first period in the morning and in

the afternoon shall not be allowed. School Uniforms are one of the essentials of school

discipline. A prescribed uniform is given to all the students on a particular school, all students

are required to wear the prescribed uniform.

The prescribed haircuts for the boys shall be at least one inch above the ear and three

inches above the collar line. There are also rights of every student in the school. The right to

receive, primarily through competent instruction relevant quality education, freely choose their

field of study, school guidance and counseling, access his own school records, issuance of

official certificates, publish a student newspaper, free expression of opinions, form and

establish and join in organizations, and right to be free from involuntary contributions.
 The duties and obligations of the students in the school are; exert his utmost to develop

his potentialities for service, uphold the academic integrity of the school, promote and maintain

the peace in the school, participate actively in civic affairs, and exercise his rights responsibility

in the knowledge that he is answerable for any infringement or violation.

Only bonafide students of the school shall be allowed inside the campus, visitors are

not allowed during school hours except for valid reasons. Teachers can confer the parents

during off periods. No students are allowed inside the campus during the end of the last period

in the afternoon except to those who have night classes.