Qualification to Teach in College & Potential Problems with Community Colleges

I was not surprised.  We have been expecting this.

I received this letter a few days ago.  In the letter, without any prior communication, written or otherwise, the signatories are informing me that I have been excluded from the teaching staff for the upcoming school year in the Community College of Manito (CCM).

         Much as I want to stay silent because I have never been the kind who likes to spend time defending himself, I need to show students that we practice what we preach as teachers -- that when I tell them in the classroom they need to learn to speak up because it is their right and duty, I should do so myself.  

        A lot of students and alumni have also spoken up on social media and have been messaging me asking for explanations.  Some have taken down their posts.

         This is going to be an extra-long post but please bear with me.  I have never written something of this magnitude and I hope I never will again.

This involves a lot of things that Manito citizens and the entire country should be aware of.  The tip of the iceberg appears to concern me but below the water lie issues beyond myself.  It is about education and public interest.

         So I lay this here once and for all.

         I shall first give context.  Then I will answer the issue in the letter.  Finally, I will set forth probably the deeper, unwritten reason for the letter.

  

THE SCHOOL PAPER AND STUDENTS’ RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

         The Community College of Manito (CCM) school administration, which is under the Board of Trustees (BOT) and the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Manito, started last school year by taking the Campus Journalism class from me.  They also removed me as adviser of the campus paper.   The BOT purportedly realized that they want to implement the policy of a 2-year rotation of adviserships.   

         The school Administrator/President even sent for me because she “heard” that I am thinking of not vacating the post and that I was organizing or influencing the campus journalists over this.  She was profusely sorry and asked for my forgiveness and understanding because she “could not do anything about it” and that she was only one vote in the BOT.

         I assured her I had no such intention.  I was confident that I have already prepared the editorial board.  They can go on without me.  They were already prepared as independent student journalists and as organizational leaders.  They are even the only organization in school that has its own Bank account in rural Manito.  I have taught them to be extremely careful with money which is not theirs.  

         The new campus paper adviser even approached me and asked me to help her because she honestly did not know what to do as a school paper adviser.

 Please note that the Law on Campus Journalism sets forth requirements for a campus paper adviser/moderator, one of which is experience.  I told her I am always ready to help her.  I really was.  She asked me if she could attend my workshops and she attended one of them.  She even later consulted me about school paper funds since they were getting nowhere.   

         Note also that for tertiary schools, campus paper advisers do not have editorial control over students.  We only help them on technical matters.  We cannot tell them what to write or not to write.  They are young adults.  They can think on their own. I have always made that clear.  The BOT and the school Admin thought I was influencing students with what to write.

         This school year, the school paper has not substantially functioned, except as an announcement board.    

         The beginning of the school year was also when they took the Campus Journalism class from me.  Subsequently, according to one student, the campus journalism class of the 4^th year English majors only met for about 5 meetings the entire semester.  I don't think it's the fault of the instructor.  He was a full-time LPT working under DepEd.  But how can a community college provide quality tertiary education this way?  How do we encourage journalism among our youth and our soon to be teachers with about 5 meetings only for an entire semester?  How about the other subjects?

 

LEGITIMIZING THE SUPPRESSION OF STUDENTS' RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

        In our minds, they simply looked for a legitimate way to silence the students’ Constitutionally enshrined freedom of expression and of the press.  By silencing me, they think they can silence the school paper, and by silencing the school paper, they can silence students because the students have a lot to write about.

         This is why we need to scrutinize our community colleges.  Otherwise, the people's taxes set apart for educating our youth will simply be wasted.  Laws enacted for specific purposes will only be followed for compliance’s sake.

  

NOT QUALIFIED TO TEACH IN THE COLLEGE

         As the attached letter shows, I have been excluded as a teaching staff of CCM because I am not qualified to teach in the college.  The reason given is that only Licensed Professional Teachers (LPTs) are qualified to teach in our college as per CHED requirements.

         Since according to this letter, the LGU and the school is trying to finally abide by the law, maybe they also need to answer the following questions and show that they are, in complete good faith, truly abiding by the law.  

         One principle of teaching that I most passionately apply is to invite questions from students.  You learn by asking questions.  The more questions they raise the better.  The more questions you can’t answer but should be humble enough to consider and study yourself, the better.  If students ask difficult questions, we should not wield the teacher’s authority to shoot them down.  Instead, we should feel elated that our students are actually applying critical thinking and their higher-order thinking skills.  

 

QUESTION  # 1:

Does CHED require a Licensed Professional Teacher (LPT) for ALL teachers, for all subjects, without any exceptions?  Or is this merely being used as a legitimate way to finally get rid of someone whom the students trust and from whom they draw truthful guidance?

 

QUESTION # 2: On the matter that only LPTs can teach in CCM.

If this is true, then who will teach the CHED mandated General Education (GE) subjects that are under the Social Sciences?  The school does not have LPTs who majored in the Social Sciences.  Most of them majored in English or Filipino.  

I am a graduate of BA Social Sciences major in Economics and Political Science from a college of a State University.  The degree does not require a board examination, but I passed both the Sub-Pro and Pro Civil Service exams immediately after graduation eons ago.  

 So who can better teach Social Science and Humanities related GE subjects better?  A freshly minted LPT who majored in English or Filipino or a BA Social Sciences graduate from a State University with Civil Service eligibility?

Apart from Social Science subjects, I have also been assigned English subjects because my English and teaching style is better than most of the English major LPTs at the community college.  I have been evaluated at least once as the most outstanding instructor in the institution.  I have also been consistently requested and preferred by the students themselves.

 

WHO IS RUNNING THE BOT?

 QUESTION # 3:  The decision to terminate my services was presumably made by the Board of Trustees (BOT).  So here’s the big question.  Who is running the BOT?

         CHED Memorandum Circular 42 s. 2016 (an amendment to CMO 32 s. 2006) provides that BOTs of Local Colleges and Universities (LCUs) shall be convened with the Local Chief Executive (i.e., the Mayor) as its Chairperson.  

         Section 29 of CHED CMO 04 s. 2007 (IRR of CMO 32 s. 2006) also provides that “The BOT/BOR Chair and members shall personally attend the regular Board Meetings” (emphasis mine) and that “Regular meetings shall be convened once every quarter".

         However, CCM’s BOT has been led and continues to be dominated or presided over by the Mayor’s mother instead of the Mayor himself.  I suggest that whoever will investigate this matter must ask for statements under oath in case responsible persons will deny this.  

         In one of the CHED visits that I attended, the CHED representative even pointed this out.  But the question is, why haven’t they enforced this to date?

  

LIABILITY?

         Furthermore, is there a liability for the Municipal Mayor for not doing his lawfully mandated job of leading the BOT and for delegating the job to his mother?  Does the law allow for a proxy?  I don’t think so.  So is this some form of dereliction of duty or betrayal of public trust that constitutes grounds for removal from office, or disciplinary measures at the very least?  The Office of the Ombudsman and the DILG will have better power to look into this.  The Ombudsman also does not need a formal complaint to initiate an investigation.

         Another question here is, why hasn’t any BOT member, a position of public trust, challenged this continued practice?

  

OTHER QUESTIONS ON CHED CMO 04 s. 2007

 CHED CMO 04 s. 2007 also provides for the other members of the BOT, some of whom are the following:  

 1.  The President of the Faculty Association.  

I don’t recall that we, the faculty, ever elected an association president who will represent us in the BOT.  Young teachers have messaged me about what happened because they were saddened by the news.  There seems to be no effective faculty representation in the BOT.

 2.  The President of the Supreme Student Government/Council.  

If you were to ask previous (or maybe the present) SSC chairpersons, they were never part of any substantial BOT meetings or decision-making.  How can student rights and the students' voices be placed on the decision table then, especially when even the school paper is not substantially functioning?

3.  The Representative from the Accredited Business or Industry Sector.  

I don’t know what an “accredited business or industry sector” means.  The CHED CMOs do not define it.  

 It does mention, however, in Section 14 (c) that this person shall be appointed by the BOT “for a specific term of office” and “upon the nomination of the business or industry sector of which the representative is a member thereof.”

 I do not know which business or industry nominated CCM's BOT representative or if ever there was such a nomination.  I also do not know what the specified term of office is but she has been in the BOT for as long as I can remember.  She also happens to be the Vice-Mayor’s wife.   Those with the authority to look into the matter may also want to check on this.

          Should there be problems found with the composition of the CCM BOT, the question is, what happens to the validity of BOT decisions -- the appointment and termination of staff and faculty, etc.?   

What is the effect of an improperly or illegally constituted Governing Body on quality of higher education?

 

 OTHER MATTERS THAT THE SCHOOL PAPER WAS NOT GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS

         Now I enumerate below the matters that the school publication has been longing to publish but could not, because they have been effectively silenced:

 1.  The issue of a “ghost student”.  

        Students have been talking about the unfairness of having an employee in the LGU holding an important position who is enrolled at CCM.  He has been allowed to work on a degree in Education without attending classes.

         This person talked to me approximately 4 years ago in his office at the Municipal Building and told me he was my student in History (a GE subject).  “Tawan mo na sana akong project, Sir…” (Just give me a project, Sir).  I was stunned with disbelief, but my mind said “I most certainly will not”.  

 The person never went to class.  I never gave him a grade.  No respectable teacher and citizen of this country, especially an “Iskolar ng Bayan”, should ever give in to such idea.  I made a mental note to challenge this should the opportunity arise and if they continue the practice.  I sincerely hoped they would voluntarily stop.  Years passed and he is now graduating.  To my knowledge, I was the only teacher for that subject during that year.  Who gave him a grade in a History GE subject where teachers are supposed to teach students about the sacrifices of our nation's heroes?  

         My brother also taught Philippine Constitution and Rizal at CCM during that time.  He told me the same person was also asking for a grade from him.  My brother is now working again in his former work at a Law firm in Makati.

 This is difficult for my brother and me because the person is also our relative, but what can we do?  What do the law and ethics require from us? Note again, these are GE subjects.

         How did this “student” ever pass Field Study subjects (subjects taught only by LPTs) while working full-time as an LGU employee tasked with big responsibilities?  Again, a sworn statement under pain of penalty for false statements may be issued in a proper investigation.  

 There is one more teacher who is willing to speak about this matter.  I don’t know if the rest will follow.

  

DOES CHED ALLOW “TUTORING” TO “SPECIAL” STUDENTS FOR HIS/HER ENTIRE SCHOOLING?

         The recent narrative I heard that was devised for the student is that he was being “tutored”.  I have never heard of a student who finished a 4-year education course under the “tutoring method”.   

 How special should you be so you can also avail of such treatment?  While most students and their families suffer through college, a few, or at least one student, from the LGU will be given the special privilege to satisfy qualifications for better retirement benefits.  

 I believe this is a matter for the DILG, Civil Service Commission, CHED, or even the Office of the Ombudsman for practices detrimental to public service.

  

PRACTICE TEACHING:  “Pagbigyan na namin”

         One wonders how a full-time employee of the LGU can also perform practice teaching at the same time.  A graduating student told me of their agony over this.  He said they raised this issue to teachers at the Manito National High School (MNHS) with their cooperating teachers.  

 He said the teacher told them “Pagbigyan na namin kasi matanda na at hindi naman raw kakompetensya sa pagiging teacher ta ‘dae man ma-LET.” (Just let it be since he’s already old and will not be competing with us to become a teacher since he won’t take the LET [Licensure Exam for Teachers]).  The students saw the injustice because they assumed the degree was for retirement benefit purposes and it was unfair for those who work on their degrees day in and day out for 4 long years.

 What does the DILG, the Civil Service Commission, DepEd, PRC and CHED have to say about this?

         Do you see now why students are murmuring and campus journalists have been struggling with publication?

 

2.  Stripping or lessening of my subjects.    

 The previous school Registrar was told not to give me subjects anymore last year, but knowing that I will not approve of practices such as # 1 above, and by reason of student requests, she gave me even more load.  She eventually left the school.  “Resigned”.  Two former college deans also left in succession and I don't think age was their main reason.  This June, the President/Administrator and the head of Student Services are said to be resigning also.  One may ask why?

         One issue raised against the former registrar that forced her to “resign” is she was told that she “favored students”.  But if you are the School Registrar in a Public School, who will you favor? Aren’t you expected to lean toward the students by default because they are the reason for which the institution exists?

 

 A few Other miscellaneous items that students could publish but were afraid to write about 

 1.  During CHED accreditation visits.  CCM suddenly has a Computer Laboratory, when before and after accreditation visits we had none.

 2.  In order to comply with CHED requirements on the publication of school papers, we were asked on one or two occasions to print even just one copy to show compliance.  We politely kept silent but did not accommodate the request.  We knew it was wrong and we feared there will be no sense of urgency for the LGU/Admin to release funds for school paper publication once compliance is noted by CHED.

 3.  Need to check if the students who failed or had other problems are still getting benefits from the free tertiary education.  I failed at least one student for practically not attending classes and without submitting class requirements.  He keeps re-enrolling.  Does he also keep getting financial benefits from the Government?

 4.  Students complain that “parang pinagpa-practisan” lang kami because newly passed LPTs have been teaching without experience.  They feel short-changed.  That is why they have been requesting me to teach them. I have nothing against the fresh grads.  Some of them were my students and I favor them.  But we also need to listen to the students.  It’s their lives and future we are talking about.  

         A balance, a solution must be made.  

 Fresh LPTs lack experience and knowledge (but they need to be given some).  They are eager to serve and learn and are extremely reliable in extra-curricular events.  

 On the other hand, the veteran LPTs are busy with their regular DepEd teaching jobs.  Couple that with the frequent brownouts, flickering lights during night classes, and extra-curricular events and you will see an 18-week semester drop to almost half.

 

 MY REQUEST TO CHED, SHOULD THEY DECIDE TO LOOK INTO THIS

 1.  Is there a possibility that CHED could give a reassurance that should an investigation be held, CCM will not be shut down, but sanctions and corrective measures will be required?  

         Students have talked about being afraid to speak up because CCM might close down.  They are led to believe that it owes it’s continued existence to the local leadership and that CHED should not know these issues.  So their lips are sealed for fear that the school will be shut down.  

2.  Publish results of CHED visits or accreditation reports so the public will know the positive and the negative results of their accreditation visits.

 3.  Go beyond the paper trail.  Always make it a point to interview random students, faculty, and staff during CHED visits.

 

IN CONCLUSION

This is not about me.  I can always go out of the house and enjoy our garden and chickens or do other things I love, like painting. I can also focus on our business and commence my other ideas on business and education.  

         I just don’t want students and alumni to feel that I simply bowed and gave up on them.     I was never in it for the P80.00 per unit income (yes, do the Math).  The students were my only motivation from the start.

These are all matters of public interest because these involve a public institution running on people’s taxes.  

We have been warned and are aware of the dangers.  What we ask is that people read, understand, and pray for us.

 If you find this reasonable and just, your support and prayers will accomplish much.

         All we know is we cannot live in fear.  We teach students to do what is right so they must see us in action.

    I taught Ethics (a GE subject), to 2^nd year English major first semester of this school year.  I taught them topics like the “7 Step Moral Reasoning Method” and How to Develop the Will and Moral Courage.  There is no learning when there is no application.  I need to apply what I taught them.  Otherwise, I would not have been their teacher.  I would merely be a political hireling. 

        Finally, may I also let you know that we are publishing and hosting a public service social media page called Manito’s Time where we endeavor to cultivate an informed and involved citizenry in the countryside.  We have volunteer journalists.  To my knowledge, CCM has produced three (Magna cum Laude graduates).  All three are members of Manito’s Time.  Two of them just graduated.  Can that indicate a correlation between the encouragement of critical thinking and intellectual development?  Ask these three members and all our other students and young pro members.  

       Thank you for bearing with this extremely long post.   I hope I have sufficiently answered all your questions.

      The die is cast; I cross my Rubicon.  

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P. S.

To our friends who are praying for us.  This was from my quiet time one day before I received the letter:

 “For he will never be upended;

Others will always remember one who is just.

He does not fear bad news.

He is confident; he trusts in the LORD.

His resolve is firm; he will not succumb to fear…

He will be vindicated and honored.

When the wicked see this, they will worry;

They will grind their teeth in frustration and melt away…”

-- Psalm 112:6-8a, 9b-10a