Arroyo reorganizes CHED board of advisers

MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered the reorganization of the six-man board of advisers of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) with the addition of two members to represent the private sector. President Arroyo said the move, contained in Executive Order No. 730, aims to further strengthen CHED. At present, the CHED board of advisers is composed of secretary of education as chairman; the director general of the National Economic and Development Authority as vice chairman; and the secretaries of Science and technology, trade and industry, and labor and employment deparments; and the presidents of the Federation fo Accrediting Association of the Philippines (FAAP), and the Fund Assistance to Private Education (FAPE) as members. Under Republic Act 7722 or the Higher Education Act of 1994, it is the function of the Board of Advisers to meet with the Commission at least once a year "to assist it in aligning its policies and plans with the cultural, political and socioeconomic development needs of the nation and with the demands of world-class scholarship". The President also issued Executive Order No. 729 desigating the director general or a representative of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authroity (TESDA) as a member of the Teacher Education Council. "There is a need to include the technical-vocational sector of education to the TEC and to educate and train technical-vocational teachers of unquestionale integrity and competence, Arroyo said in explaining the inclusion of TESDA in TEC. At present TEC is composed of Education Secretary as ex-officio chairman; a CHED commissioner, a representative of the National Commission on Culture and Arts (NCAA), and the chairman of the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC), as ex-officio members. The regular members are the representatives of the Centers of Teacher Education from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao; Science teachers; Mathematics teachers; Social Studies teachers; and Language teachers in the country. President Arroyo said the reorganiztion of the CHED board of advisers and the TEC are part of efforts to improve the education system in the country and "strengthen existing mechanisms to complement the role of the Presidential Task Force for Education in synchronizing and harmonizing the entire education system." The said task force was earlier created to assess, plan and monitor the entire educational system and recommend measn to improve and ensure the quality of the education system in the country. - GMANews.TV