Merit-based teacher promotions urged

The government should prioritize career development and professional advancement for teachers based on their earned merits rather than relying on quotas, according to Senator Win Gatchalian.

He made this statement during a public hearing of the subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Civil Service, Government Reorganization and Professional Regulation over the weekend. The panel, which he chairs, recently discussed proposed measures for a Career Progression System for Public School Teachers. 

Gatchalian emphasized that the promotion quota limits teachers’ professional growth.

“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,” he said.

“It has to be merit-based, it should not be quota-based,” he added. 

He cited his panel’s analysis of the career progression system of teachers in the country before signing of Executive Order 174, which established the expanded career progression system for public school teachers. 

The analysis revealed that only 14 percent of Teachers III will be promoted to Master Teacher I, with the promotion process taking 10 to 15 years. Additionally, it indicated that only 7 percent of Teachers III will advance to Head Teacher, and just 5 percent of Teachers III will move up from Master Teacher IV to the position of school principal.

According to the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II), the quota system, which already hinders teachers’ promotion, was established under the Position Classification and Compensation Scheme (PCCS) (DBM Manual on PCCS, Chapter 6, 2004).

Teachers I-III constitute 92 percent of teachers in the Department of Education. Analysis by the senator’s office also revealed that four out of 10 (44 percent) Teachers II have been in service for more than 10 years, while almost seven out of 10 (65 percent) Teachers III have been in service for more than 10 years.

Gatchalian filed Senate Bill 2827, or the Career Progression System for Public School Teachers Act, to institutionalize the Career Progression System for Public School Teachers. 

The proposed measure seeks to expand teachers’ prospects for a career path in teaching, school administration, or supervision.