MANILA, Philippines — The Pasig City Council has enacted an ordinance that could see teachers at the city government-run Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasig (PLP) denied of teaching opportunities if they do not complete a postgraduate degree soon.
Ordinance No. 29, series of 2013, enacted by the Pasig City Council and approved by Pasig Mayor Maria Belen Andaya-Eusebio on November 2013, sets May 2015 as the deadline by which all PLP faculty should have finished a postgraduate degree related to their original bachelor degree.
The ordinance was enacted to further emphasize a Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) memorandum issued in 2012, which has set quality assurance standards for colleges and universities.
“The Pasig City Council extends its unequivocal and full support to the PLP in its commitment to comply with the CHEd regulatory requirements and the PLP Board of Regents mandating all permanent faculty to complete their vertically articulated academic Master’s and Doctor’s degrees by May 2015,” the ordinance read.
CHEd Circular Memorandum Order 46 series of 2012 requires teachers of higher education institutions to complete at least a master’s degree in their area of specialization.
The PLP’s Board of Regents last year specifically issued a resolution mandating the university’s permanent faculty members to complete at least a master’s degree.
Failure of these permanent faculty to complete their postgraduate degrees in time for the deadline means they will no longer be given teaching loads in the next semester, effectively booting them out of the PLP faculty.
However, the ordinance noted that despite measures initiated by the Board of Regents, such as a P25,000 scholarship grant and two-year return service contract for qualified faculty, certain teachers have yet to realize the policy’s implications.
“The Board of Regents is concerned that a number of full-time faculty, despite the orientation provided by the university president and two earlier deadlines set by previous university administrations…on the need to acquire their graduate credentials have not fully realized the implications of the non-compliance with CHEd and the Board of Regents policy for all full-time faculty to complete their…academic credentials,” the ordinance read.
The ordinance noted that should faculty members fail to meet the deadline, they should “accept the corresponding consequence of separation from service.”
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