Manila, Philippines – Senator Sherwin Gatchalian underscored the authority of the Teacher Education Council (TEC) on everything about teacher education, including coordination among its member agencies, during the first oversight hearing on the status of implementation of Republic Act 11713 on December 18.

The senator emphasized that “it’s a special law in the sense that it carved out teacher education and placed that within the purview of the TEC.” The law intends to make teacher education a priority by creating a focused and empowered council to set policies, delineate responsibilities, and ensure quality education for future teachers.

With the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) recently inducting its expanded technical panel for teacher education, EDCOM 2 Executive Director Karol Mark Yee asked questions about whether the Technical Panel for Teacher Education (TPTE) has plans of transferring work to TEC.

TPTE Chairperson Dr. Edizon Fermin shared that an alignment meeting with TEC Secretariat Executive Director V Dr. Jennie Jocson is set and intended to harmonize work with TEC.

TEC initially planned to convene its own review panels intended for reframing the pre-service curriculum.  Dr. Fermin offered TPTE to assist the Council instead. “TPTE is at the disposal of TEC,” Dr. Fermin said.

Senator Gatchalian urged to centralize discussions and establish clear resolutions within the Council to avoid conflict or overlap.

“What we don’t want is duplication of work and conflict of work. Let’s stay true to the mandate and the direction of the law and the TEC. The TEC was really designed to focus on teacher education. That’s why it’s a special law among all professions,” Senator Gatchalian emphasized.

Watch the hearing below or click here.