More Home Economics teachers

Margarita B. Santos

ACCORDING to recent news, President Rodrigo Duterte had signed Republic Act (RA) 11168, which emphasizes that the "invaluable contribution that Filipino professionals and specialists, particularly degree holders of Home Economics, can make to the realization of a literate, skilled and productive citizenry."

This law allows Home Economics graduates to teach subjects based on, or related to, their degree in elementary and secondary levels at both public and private schools.

The law reads, "It is the policy of the State, as enshrined in the 'Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013,' to allow graduates and specialists on specific fields that have limited licensed teacher applicants to teach in their specialized subjects for the basic education levels,"

Under RA 11168, Home Economic graduates are allowed to teach home economics subjects and home economics-related technical-vocational (Tech-Voc) subjects in all public and private institutions in the country.

The law requires a competent Home Economic graduate who wishes to teach Tech-Voc subjects in secondary educational institutions to obtain National Certificate Levels 1 and 2 from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).

Graduates of Home Economics are also mandated to obtain a National Certificate Level 1 and National Certificate Level 2 from Tesda before they can teach TechVoc subjects.

They are also mandated to take the Licensure Examinations for Teachers (LET) within five years from the date of hiring, unless they are only teaching on a parttime basis.

However, graduates who are willing to teach on part-time basis shall not be required to take the LET.

The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Civil Service Commission, in consultation with Tesda, are tasked to jointly formulate the appropriate standards and guidelines, to include academic requirements and competencies to assess the qualifications of Home Economics for the technical-vocational subjects.