AN ACT AMENDING CERTAIN SECTIONS OF REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED SEVENTY-EIGHT HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SIX (R A. NO. 7836)

Case Overview and Summary

Summary of Republic Act No. 9293

Amendments to the Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act of 1994

- Qualification Requirements for Teachers (Section 1):
    - For preschool teachers: Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education (BECED) or equivalent (Section 15(e)(1))
    - For elementary teachers: Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education (BSEED) or equivalent (Section 15(e)(2))
    - For secondary teachers: Bachelor's degree in Education or equivalent with a major and minor, or Bachelor's degree in Arts and Sciences with at least 18 units in professional education (Section 15(e)(3))
    - For vocational and two-year technical course teachers: Bachelor's degree in the field of specialization or equivalent, with at least 18 units in professional education (Section 15(e)(4))

- Registration and Exception (Section 2):
    - No person shall engage in teaching without being a registered professional teacher, holding a valid certificate of registration and professional license, or a valid special/temporary permit (Section 26)
    - Certificate of registration and professional license shall be issued without examination to:
        - Holders of a certificate of eligibility as a teacher issued by the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Education (Section 26(a))
        - Registered professional teachers with the National Board for Teachers under the Department of Education pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 1006 (Section 26(b))
    - Professional teachers who have not practiced for the past 5 years shall take at least 12 units of education courses (6 units of pedagogy and 6 units of context courses or equivalent training) before practicing (Section 26)
    - Those who failed the licensure examination with a rating not lower than 5 percentage points from the passing general average rating shall be eligible as para-teachers upon issuance of a two-year special permit, renewable for a non-extendible period of 2 years (Section 26)
    - Para-teachers shall be assigned to areas with shortage or absence of professional teachers, as identified by the Department of Education and the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) education department (Section 26)
    - A special permit may be issued to a person who has excelled and gained international recognition as an expert in their field of specialization (Section 26)

- Transitory Provision (Section 3):
    - Special permits with a validity of 3 and 5 years issued to para-teachers before the effectivity of this Act shall be allowed to expire based on the period granted (Section 31)
    - Only special permits with a validity of 3 years may be renewed upon expiration for a non-extendible period of 2 years (Section 31)

- References to "Department of Education, Culture and Sports" and "DECS" are amended to "Department of Education" and "DepEd", respectively (Section 4)

- Separability Clause (Section 5)

- Repealing Clause (Section 6)

- Effectivity (Section 7): This Act shall take effect upon approval.