THE House of Represen-
tatives unanimou8ly ap-
prcved on third and final
reading a measure in6ti-
tutionalizing support
and protection mecha-
nisms for public school
teachec and personnel
in matters bt student di&
cipline for classroom
management.
All 183 lawmakers
presentduringtheplenary
voting approved House
Bill (HB) No. 9065 or the
proposed "Teachers Pro-
'tection Act " principaly
authored by ACT
TEACHERS Party-list
Rep. Antonio Tinio.
Thebill aims to institu-
tionalize measures to im-
plement in all public
riools dearly defined reg-
ulations on appropdate
studentbehavior towards
other students, teachers,
and school gtaff, dudng
classes, and within and
outside school premi-ses.
It also seeks to estab-
lish and maintain support
systems, including train-
ingon clas$oom manage-
ment and child discipliiie
and legal assistance for
teachers and school 6taJf,
who intenct daily with
students and thus find
thenEelves in situations
that could expose them to
allegations of drild abuse
in the course of the dis-
charge of their duties.
The measure declares
that it is the State policy to
promote and improve the
working conditions of
public school teachers and
other school personnel,
which are unde$tood to
determine whether or not
the physical and emotion-
alswironrnenisof dtldrcn
and teachers are condu-
cive to learning and teach-
mg.
lt mandates tie De-
partment of Education
(DepEd) to issue the
guidelines on fie imple-
men ta tion ofTeacher Pro-
-
and social.work to each
tection within 120 days havemeaningf ul involve
fro$ the effectivity of the ment inthe formulation of
Act.
The Tcacher Protectiotr
or referred to as Guide-
Iines shall detail 1) the
rights and responsibilities
ofteachers with respect to
student discipline and
classroom mana8emmt,
to the end of fostedng a
positive. school climate
and sale€rrvironm€ritcon-
ducive to instru&on id
leaming; 2) permissible,
appropriate, and ef{ective
responses and intewen-
tions that will address vi-
olationsof schoolmlesand
regulations to be adminis-
tered by teachers, the
school head, and other
school staff; and 3) a cleal
descriDtion of the disci-
plinaiy procedure and
clear designation of the
competent authorities to
investigate, propose, and
apply the responses and
intervention8.
The bill provides that
any act committed by a
teacher or school stafl
pu$uant to the disciplin-
ary rtrles and procedureq
issued by the DepEd shall
not be deemed as child
abuse, cmelty,rc! exploi.
tation as defined in Re
public Act No. 7610 or the
"SpecialProHimof Chil-
dren Against Abuse, Ex-
ploitation and Discrimi-
nation Act."
It directs the students,
parents/ teachers, other
school personnel, and the
community, rqresented
bytheirrespectiveorgani-
zations, as well as profes-
sionals in child behavior
*rc guidelines.
The DepEd is also
tasked to 1) prcvide ex-
planations, tlainings, and
workshops to familiaiize
stud€ritrandfamilieswirh
the guidelines, 2) explain
the expectations of va!i-
ous sectors involved, and
3)describethevariowpre-
ventive and positive re
sponsesandintelvmtions
that may be used.
Copibof tlreguideline
shall be provided to each
stud€nt as well as their ,
parefl b orlegal guardians
at the beginning of each
school vear.
All 'employees of tire
DepEd Divisions shall
armuallv rereive instruc-
tions relited to the specfic
contertg of theGuidelines.
It is also the mandate of
the DepEd to provide
teachers the appropriate
presen.lce aul.l ln-servrce
kaiiingsonddldbehavior
and psychology, class-
room management tech-
nique, positilvediscipline
and otherrelated fields, as
well as on its Guidelines
and the scope of their du-
ties and rcsponsibilities
with respect lo student
discipline and classroom
nvulagement.
Rva"n Poncr Paclo
rne+