Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Section 15, (e) (3) of Republic Act No. 7836 is hereby amended as follows:

"SEC. 15. Qualification Requirements of Applicants. - No applicant shall be admitted to take the examination unless, on the date of filing of the application, he shall have complied with the following requirements:

"(e) A graduate of a school, college or university recognized by the government and possesses the minimum educational qualifications, as follows:

1. For teachers in preschool, a bachelor's degree in early childhood education (BECED) or its equivalent;
   
2. For teachers in the elementary grades, a bachelor's degree in elementary education (BSEED) or its equivalent;
   
3. For teachers in the secondary grades, a bachelor's degree in education or its equivalent with a major and minor, or a bachelor degree in arts and sciences with at least eighteen (18) units in professional education; and
   
4. For teachers of vocational and two-year technical courses, a bachelor's degree in the field of specialization or its equivalent, with at least eighteen (18) units in professional education."
   

SEC. 2. Section 26 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 26. Registration and Exception. - No person shall engage in teaching and/or act as a professional teacher as defined in this Act, whether in the preschool, elementary or secondary level, unless the person is a duly registered professional teacher, and a holder of a valid certificate of registration and a valid professional license or a holder of a valid special/temporary permit.

Upon approval of the application and payment of the prescribed fees, the certificate of registration and professional license as a professional teacher shall be issued without examination as required in this Act to a qualified applicant, who is:

1. A holder of a certificate of eligibility as a teacher issued by the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Education, Culture and Sports; or
   
2. A registered professional teacher with the National Board for Teachers under the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS) pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 1006.
   

Professional teachers who have not practiced their profession for the past five (5) years shall take at least twelve (12) units of education courses, consisting of at least six (6) units of pedagogy and six (6) units of content courses, or the equivalent training and number of hours, to be chosen from a list of courses to be provided by the Board and the Department of Education, before they can be allowed to practice their profession in the country.

Those who have failed the licensure examination for professional teachers, with a rating of not lower than five percentage points from the passing general average rating, shall be eligible as para-teachers upon issuance by the Board of a two-year special permit, renewable for a non-extendible period of two (2) years. The para-teachers shall be assigned to areas where there is a shortage or absence of a professional teacher, as identified and provided by the Department of Education and the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) education department to the Board for professional teachers and to the Commission. The special permit shall indicate the area of assignment of the para-teacher.

A special permit may also be issued by the Board to a person who has excelled and gained international recognition and is a widely acknowledged expert in his or her respective field of specialization."

SEC. 3. Section 31 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 31. Transitory Provision. - Special permits, with a validity of three (3) and five (5) years, issued to para-teachers by the Board for Professional Teachers before the effectivity of this Act shall be allowed to Expire based on the period granted therein: Provided, That only special permits with a validity of three (3) years may be renewed upon expiration for a non-extendible period of two (2) years."

SEC. 4. References to the term "Department of Education, Culture and Sports", in Section 4 (a) and Section 25, and the term "DECS" in Section 20, of the same Act, are hereby amended to read as "Department of Education" and "DepEd", respectively.

SEC. 5. Separability Clause. — If, for any reason, any section or provision of this Act or the application of such section or provision to any person or circumstance is declared unconstitutional or invalid, no other section or provision of this Act shall be affected thereby.

SEC. 6. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, circulars, administrative orders, rules and regulations, and other issuances which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 7. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect upon approval.

Approved,

(Sgd.) FRANKLIN M. DRILON	(Sgd.) JOSE DE VENECIA JR.
President of the Senate	Speaker of the House of Representatives

This Act which is a consolidation of Senate Bill No. 2698 and House Bill No. 5411 was finally passed by the Senate and House of Representatives on February 6, 2004 and February 7, 2004, respectively.

(Sgd.) OSCAR G. YABES	(Sgd.) ROBERTO P. NAZARENO
Secretary of the Senate	Secretary General House of Representatives

Approved: APR 21 2004