Senator Win Gatchalian is seeking the allocation of an additional P58 million for the Teacher Education Council (TEC), a body tasked with improving the quality of education and training for teachers.

Twenty-eight million pesos of these additional funds will be allocated for the hiring of 28 personnel who will be detailed under the TEC Secretariat. Though the new positions were approved by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) this year, the corresponding funding requirements were not reflected in the General Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2025 (House Bill No. 10800).

Thirty million pesos of the proposed additional funds will be allocated for the TEC’s Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE), which will cover research activities, consultations, dialogues, benchmarking, workshops and validation activities. The TEC’s MOOE will also cover regular meetings as well as other common costs, operational expenses, and the space to house the TEC secretariat’s structure outside the Department of Education (DepEd).

“I am appealing for this additional P58 million to fully equip the Teacher Education Council. I truly believe that this is a low-hanging fruit and an immediate reform in terms of strengthening and empowering our teachers, especially when it comes to training and locating good potential teachers to come into the system. The Teacher Education Council has a lot of powers to improve the teaching capabilities of our education system,” said Gatchalian, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Basic Education.

Gatchalian is the principal author and sponsor of the Excellence in Teacher Education Act (Republic Act No. 11713), which revamped the TEC. The law strengthens the coordination between the DepEd, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). Other responsibilities of the TEC include the establishment of a teacher education roadmap and the setting of basic requirements for teacher education programs.