PASAY CITY, February 9, 2018 – After compliance to the provisions of Republic Act No. 10912, otherwise known as the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Act of 2016, the Department of Education (DepEd), through the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP), has been granted accreditation by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) as service provider of CPD for teachers on December 12, 2017.
The accreditation covers Central Office bureaus and services, Regional Offices and Schools Division Offices. Therefore, the training programs for teachers to be conducted by these DepEd Offices, which are free of charge, shall be given credit units provided that training designs are submitted to NEAP and endorsed to and pre-evaluated by PRC 45 days prior to the training proper.
School-based trainings
DepEd NEAP further negotiated with the Professional Regulatory Board for Teachers, and moved to ensure that teachers will receive pertinent CPD credit units for participating in their school-based Learning Action Cell (LAC) sessions. LAC is recognized as a K to 12 Basic Education Program school-based continuing professional development strategy for the improvement of teaching and learning.
The Schools Division Offices shall be tasked to submit a common LAC design to NEAP which shall endorse the same to PRC for pre-evaluation and determination of credit units. Funds for LACs may be charged against the schools’ maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE), subject to the usual utilization rules and guidelines, and are therefore free of charge. A completion report shall also be sent to PRC at the end of the training program.
Accessible CPD interventions
NEAP’s initiatives shall reinforce that public school teachers do not have to pay for and undergo trainings and seminars conducted by external PRC-accredited providers in order to earn CPD credit units.
“We will continue to intensify our efforts to ensure that teachers are provided with relevant, updated and accessible CPD interventions,” NEAP Director John Arnold Siena shared.
He further relayed that funds shall be provided to DepEd’s field offices, as well as to Central Office bureaus and services that implement programs relative to teacher training and professional development. LAC sessions shall be monitored for quality assurance, and a pool of learning facilitators shall support the training program activities and lead in LAC sessions for teachers.
NEAP is also in the process of finalizing the Learning and Development System that shall define the processes and mechanism of providing CPD for all DepEd employees, with particular attention to teachers.
“All these efforts aim to support the continuing professional development of teachers which should redound to their professional growth and improved teaching practices, and effective learning among our K to 12 learners,” Siena concluded. (DepEd-PR)
