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Press Release

Recognizing the ever-increasing importance of technology and technological training in the 21st century, Bohol First District Congressman Rene Lopez Relampagos filed a bill for the improvement of information technology (IT) education in public schools all over the country.

House Bill 3999, which the First District solon filed in the session of the Fifteenth Congress last January 24, proposes to strengthen computer science education in public elementary and secondary schools nationwide, through the Department of Education (DepEd).

Citing research indicating the general lack of availability of computer education in public schools and that even in state colleges and universities the ratio in a computer class is often ten or even twenty students for every computer unit, the neophyte congressman stressed the urgency for the Filipino youth to be globally competitive.

“With almost every profession and trade becoming digital and with business process outsourcing being the fastest-growing industry in our country, it would be a grave disservice to our children if we do not equip them with the skills and knowledge that they will need to live and to make a living in this age of information technology,” Relampagos reasoned.

Substantially adopting the Computer Science Education Act of 2010 which is pending the United States Congress, the bill pushes for the development of a comprehensive plan for public computer science education, subject for review every two years, which will, among others: assess public elementary and secondary school needs for IT education, especially in rural areas; ensure access to computer science courses even among under-represented sectors; ensure grade-appropriate IT concepts from Grade 1 through Grade 6; include IT education in the core curriculum for high school students; provide for computer science distance learning programs; and develop and improve certification programs for computer science teachers.

The First District solon stressed that the focus in computer science education should not only be on applied IT skills but, more importantly, on developing core computer science knowledge.

The bill also proposes the creation of the Commission on Computer Science Education, which will provide recommendations to the Secretary of Education for the expansion and improvement of public IT education nationwide, review the state of IT education in public elementary and secondary schools, and review computer science teacher certification requirements and processes.

The commission would be composed of a senior official from the DepEd, an IT expert from the Department of Science and Technology, a representative of an elementary or secondary computer education practitioner organization, a public elementary or secondary computer science teacher, a social scientist with expertise on equity issues of IT education, and a representative of the computing industry or of an industry that depends on computing services.

Relampagos comments that the bill would be complementary to the also-pending House Bill No. 0976 filed in Congress by Representatives Augusto Syjuco and Rosenda Ann Ocampo, who propose that proceeds from gross receipts tax imposed on cellular phone companies be used to finance the computer literacy programs of public schools.

The Boholano solon, who was also a college professor prior to his political career, also sits as the vice chairperson of the House Committee on Information and Communications Technology and as a member of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education.

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