PASAY CITY, Manila — Vice President Sara Duterte on Friday lauded the Research Center for Teacher Quality (RCTQ) for producing the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers.

“Let me start by congratulating the men and women of the Research Center for Teacher Quality or RCTQ for its 10 fruitful years of work in the field of research with the primary goal of enhancing teacher quality in the country,” Duterte said during the RCTQ’s 10th Anniversary at the Rizal Park Hotel here.

The Philippine Normal University and its partners, the University of New England and the Australian Agency for International Development, forged a partnership that resulted in the creation of the RCTQ.

Duterte said the RCTQ invested over three years of research and consultations to produce the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers which was formally adopted and implemented nationwide by DepEd in 2017.

The RCTQ spent three more years of research and validation to produce the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads and Supervisors. These standards were adopted by DepEd in 2020.

“Through RCTQ’s help in embedding these standards in our human resource systems, DepEd is now able to issue more informed policies on teacher hiring, promotion and career progression, teacher professional development, and rewards and recognition,” Duterte said.

She also briefly discussed the Basic Education Development Plan (BEDP) 2030, a project launched by former Education Secretary Leonor Briones, with technical assistance from UNICEF and the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd).

The BEDP 2030 is the first long-term plan for basic education which serves as a strategic roadmap for improving the quality of basic education as well as the learners’ experiences in the basic education learning environment.

“Today, there is no room for complacency at DepEd. As promised in the Basic Education Development Plan 2030, DepEd will be enabled by modern, efficient, and nimble governance and management processes,” Duterte said.

“However, there is plenty of room for partners and collaborators who wish to help us implement reforms in our basic education sector,” she added.

The Vice President reiterated that the culture of research in DepEd is “growing” by establishing research component called the “Basic Education Research Fund” or BERF under the Policy and Research Program, and DepEd’s very first research portal called “e-Saliksik” to make research results accessible.

“The e-Saliksik serves as a repository of all quality-assured education research completed by our teachers, supervisors, and education specialists. The portal is new and we are still adding more features to provide more online services to our users,” Duterte said.

“All of these initiatives on strengthening research will provide DepEd with concrete evidence in policy formulation and program development,” she added.

Duterte ended her message saying that the teaching force is the most important resource, and taking good care of them will help speed up the process of improving the quality of education in our country.

“Using the Education Forum platform and our upcoming policy and research agenda, let us work together to improve the quality of teachers through research and evidence building,” Duterte said.

The event was attended by officials and stakeholders from the Philippine Normal University and the University of New England. Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Her Excellency Hae Kyong Yu also graced the event.

OVP MEDIA