REP. Brian Yamsuan (PL, Bicol Saro) yesterday urged leaders of the House of Representatives to approve his bill seeking to provide free tuition to government employees pursuing master’s degrees before the 19th Congress adjourns sine die in June next year.
Yamsuan, who issued the call on the occasion of National Government Employees Week, said public school teachers aspiring to be promoted under the Department of Education (DepEd)’s expanded career progression system stand to benefit from House Bill 8834 or the proposed Free Master’s Degree Tuition for Government Employees Act.
The bill covers career and non-career workers in the public sector who will enroll in state universities and colleges (SUCs) to complete their graduate studies.
Yamsuan said the bill, pending before the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education since last year, will lead to the career growth of government personnel, especially public school teachers who lack the required master’s degree for promotion but cannot pursue graduate studies due to financial constraints.
“Under the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the expanded career progression system for public school teachers signed by Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sonny Angara, the promotion process for public school teachers would now be faster because they can now choose to either continue teaching or move to administrative roles, unlike before when their only option was the latter. But these higher positions require them to pursue or complete a master’s degree, which many of them cannot afford,” Yamsuan said.
“Thus, we are appealing to our colleagues in Congress to approve House Bill 8834 to help thousands of teachers who are otherwise qualified to be promoted but lack the required master’s degree or units,” he added.
Under the IRR for the public school teachers’ career progression system outlined in Executive Order 174, the base of the public school teachers’ career system will now include the additional teaching positions of Teachers IV up to VII. The positions of Master Teacher I to IV will form the Classroom Teaching Career Line and will include the additional position of Master Teacher V.
The School Administration Career Line, meanwhile, covers the positions of School Principal I up to IV.
These career lines require additional academic units leading to a master’s degree or the completion of a master’s degree.
Yamsuan also encouraged other civil service employees to continue professionalizing their ranks, saying this “will redound not only to their benefit but to the benefit of their clientele—the Filipino people.”
Under the bill, the free tuition covers a master’s program of a maximum of two years in any SUC where the government employee has successfully sought admission.
To qualify for the free tuition benefit, government employees must be employed for at least five years at any time after the effectivity of the proposed measure and should also pass the entrance tests and other admission and retention requirements of the SUC where he or she is applying for the master’s program.
Those who fail to complete the master’s degree within a year after the period prescribed in their graduate education program will be rendered ineligible for the benefit and charged the tuition and other school fees as determined by the governing board of the SUC where they were enrolled.
