A party-list for educators is supporting a bill filed in the Senate that aims to protect teachers and school staff against false and malicious accusations.
Senate Bill No. 2477, or the Classroom Management Support and Protection for Teachers Act, which Sen. Leila de Lima filed last week, seeks to put in place support mechanisms for public school teachers and school staff in matters of student discipline and mechanisms for classroom management.
SB No. 2477 would require the Department of Education to formulate guidelines for classroom management for teachers and school personnel.
“We fully support SB No. 2477, which would ensure that our public school teachers’ right to due process is protected,” Philippine Educators Alliance for Community Empowerment (PEACE) Party-list president and first nominee Marie Paz T. Abante said.
According to De Lima, the bill was prompted by an incident in 2019 where a teacher was pressured to quit her job on national television after a student’s family complained in a TV program about her, as well as other similar incidents.
While information technology and social media have brought about many benefits particularly in democratizing the transfer of knowledge, Abante said that “it has unfortunately made easier the spread of malicious or one-sided accusations where the other party is not afforded the opportunity to explain.”
“Nawawalan ng konteksto ang mga pangyayari, at hindi rin nakakatulong na sa halip na sa tamang himpilan tayo sumangguni, pinipili nating ma-sensationalize ang mga isyu. Sa huli, wala ring hustisyang nakakamit,” Abante added.
The long-time educator said that while students’ welfare should be the topmost priority, complaints should nevertheless always be aired at the proper venue to ensure fairness.
SB No. 2477 would require the Department of Education (DepEd) to formulate guidelines for classroom management for teachers and school personnel.
Included in the guidelines are rules and regulations, as well as the rights and responsibilities of teachers and non-teaching personnel. Permissible, appropriate, and effective responses and interventions to address violations of school rules and regulations that would be administered by teachers and other school staff should also be included.
The guidelines should also provide a clear description of the disciplinary procedure and a clear designation of the authorities that would investigate, propose, and apply the responses and interventions.
The long-time educator said that while students’ welfare should be the topmost priority, complaints should nevertheless always be aired at the proper venue to ensure fairness.
The bill also tasks DepEd to provide teachers the appropriate pre-service and in-service training on child behavior and psychology, classroom management techniques, positive discipline, and other related fields.
Abante said that the measure could help institutionalize a better system for addressing grievances from students.
“Social media should never be the arbiter in these cases,” she said.
Pending legislation, she also urged the DepEd to implement reforms to help protect teachers against online abuse.