Batang Magaling Act

Senate Office of the Socceraty TWENTIETH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES AUG 20 P 3:34 First Regular Session ) RECEIVED BY: SENATE S. No. 1223 Introduced by Senator Raffy T. Tulfo AN ACT ENSURING THAT SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES UNDER THE K TO 12 PROGRAM ARE EQUIPPED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE, TRAINING, AND SKILLS DEMANDED IN THE LABOR MARKET, ENHANCING THEIR EMPLOYABILITY AND COMPETITIVENESS, PROMOTING THE AFFIRMATIVE HIRING OF EVERY GRADUATE OF BASIC EDUCATION IN THE PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTORS, CREATING THE BATANG MAGALING COUNCILS TO STRENGTHEN MULTI- STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION AND SUPPORT FOR THEIR EMPLOYMENT, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES EXPLANATORY NOTE Benjamin Franklin once said, "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." Investing in the education of a country not only uplifts the lives of each citizen, but it also creates a competitive workforce that drives the economy to progress. Even more so, it is crucial that there is a parallel increase in better job opportunities. Article XIV, Section 2(1) of the 1987 Constitution provides that the State shall establish, maintain, and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people and society. In line with this mandate, Republic Act No. 10533, or the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, was enacted to provide an educational system that equips students with the necessary skills and knowledge to be considered employable and job-ready upon completing Senior High School (SHS), along with addressing the needs of our society. Under R.A. 10533, the K to 12 program envisions graduates as empowered individuals who have learned, through a program rooted in sound educational principles and geared toward excellence, the foundations for learning throughout life and the

competence to engage in work and be productive.' However, being equipped and job- ready is only one part of the equation; graduates must also have access to job opportunities and job security, as emphasized in Article XIII, Section 3 of the 1987 Constitution, which provides that the State shall afford full protection to labor and promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all. In a survey conducted among 299 companies by the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) in July 2024, it discovered that four (4) out of five (5) are willing to hire senior high school (SHS) graduates and two (2) out of five (5) are ready with policies in place to hire them.? However, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), there has been an increase in the unemployment rate of SHS graduates in January 2025 with an estimate of 11% compared to January 2024 with an estimated SHS graduate unemployment rate of 10.1%.3 It is apparent that the search for employment remains to be an obstacle for SHS graduates despite being considered to be employable by the end of the curriculum. On March 6, 2025, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) updated its guidelines under CSC Resolution No. 2500229 consequently revising the educational requirements to reflect the changes in the national education system. Graduates of the K-12 curriculum are now eligible for first-level government positions. While this resolution gives greater recognition to the capabilities of SHS graduates, accommodating the majority of them in first-level government positions would not be sufficient. Thus, the private sector should likewise emulate these efforts to further close the gap in the unemployment of SHS graduates. This bill, or the Batang Magaling Act, seeks to develop capacity-building and professional development programs that respond to the needs of various industries while ensuring the job readiness of the younger workforce. Furthermore, the bill aims to address the challenges that SHS graduates face concerning employability by encouraging 1 https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2013/05/15/republic-act-no-10533/ 2 https://pbed.ph/news/pbed-more-companies-open-and-already-hiring-k-12-grads/ 3 https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/labor-force-survey/node/1684066820 4 https://www.csc.gov.ph/csc-revises-qualification-standards-to-allow-senior-high-school-graduates-entry- into-government-service

private corporations to invest in SHS graduates not only through employment but also through training. In view of the foregoing, immediate approval of this measure is earnestly sought. RAFFY T. TULFO

Senate Wifice of the Socerciary TWENTIETH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 25 AUG 20 P3:34 First Regular Session ) RECEIVED BY: S. No. 11223 Introduced by Senator Raffy T. Tulfo AN ACT ENSURING THAT SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES UNDER THE K TO 12 PROGRAM ARE EQUIPPED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE, TRAINING, AND SKILLS DEMANDED IN THE LABOR MARKET, ENHANCING THEIR EMPLOYABILITY AND COMPETITIVENESS, PROMOTING THE AFFIRMATIVE HIRING OF EVERY GRADUATE OF BASIC EDUCATION IN THE PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTORS, CREATING THE BATANG MAGALING COUNCILS TO STRENGTHEN MULTI- STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION AND SUPPORT FOR THEIR EMPLOYMENT, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress Assembled:

Section 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Batang Magaling Act."

Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy of the State to establish, maintain,

and support a complete, adequate, and integrated system of education relevant to the needs of the people and society. The State shall also afford full protection to labor, and promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all. In line with this, it is hereby declared the policy of the State that every graduate of basic education shall be an empowered individual who has acquired the competence to engage in productive work and the ability to coexist in fruitful harmony with local and global communities. For this purpose, this Act seeks to enhance employability and competitiveness in the workforce, minimize impediments to employment, and promote the affirmative hiring of every graduate of basic education.

Sec. 3. Objective. - This Act shall ensure that the Philippine basic education

system, as enhanced under Republic Act (R.A.) No. 10533 or the "Enhanced Basic

Education Act of 2013," will produce Senior High School (SHS) graduates who are equipped with knowledge, training and skills demanded in the labor market, whether they have chosen the higher education, middle-level skills development, employment, or 4 entrepreneurship exit, thereby enhancing their employability and competitiveness in the workforce.

Sec. 4. Creation of the Batang Magaling National and Local Councils; Strengthening

7 Multi-Stakeholder Linkages and Collaboration; The Batang Magaling Roadmap. - To align the tracks and strands of the K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum under R.A. No. 10533 9 with the needs of the labor market, a National Batang Magaling Council (National Council) shall be created composed of the Department of Education (DepEd), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), three (3) national industry partners, one (1) national labor group, and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines. Local Batang Magaling Councils (Local Councils) shall likewise be formed at the provincial, city, and municipal levels to ensure that SHS graduates are equipped with education, training, and skills demanded by industry partners and government agencies. The Local Councils shall be composed of the provincial, city, or municipal local school boards (LSBs), the Public Employment Service Office (PESO), at least two (2) industry partners in the locality, a representative of the TESDA provincial office, and a local employee organization or association. Every education institution offering the SHS Program shall regularly consult with the Local Council at least twice a year to be guided by the actions of the Council, especially the roadmap in paragraph e hereunder. The Council shall serve as a mechanism for active collaboration and meaningful communication for the fulfillment of the following purposes: a. provision of information to the education institutions for the updating and alignment of the curricular offerings and the work immersion component of the SHS program with the market needs as identified by industry partners and government agencies;

b. increase in the awareness and commitment of industry partners and government agencies to accept learners in Work Immersion Programs (WIPs), ensure that their deployment is done according to their tracks or specialization courses, and enable them to acquire specialized skills and competencies to advance in their chosen path; c. enabling the LSBs to provide relevant data and information to the stakeholders, increase their awareness of their mutual issues and concerns on the employability of SHS graduates in the locality, discuss and analyze the duties and risks involved in WIPs, and give local incentives to recognize best practices on collaboration; d. crafting of the WIPs of education institutions offering the SHS Program within a province, city, or municipality and ensuring that the curriculum is aligned with industry needs, learners meet the minimum requirements of the work immersion industry partners and government agencies, and learners develop competencies and acquire skills that are industry-based to improve their work readiness and employability; and e. development of local Batang Magaling Roadmaps, to be evaluated and updated every three (3) years, at the provincial, city, and municipal levels that shall introduce interventions and set measurable goals on enhancing the employability, competitiveness, and productivity of SHS graduates, including but not limited to an increase or improvement in the following: the number of industry partners and government agencies participating in the WIPs; the number of SHS learners deployed under the WIPs according to their tracks or specialization courses; and the rate of employment of SHS graduates in jobs aligned to their skills. As such, the local roadmap shall include the skills demanded by industry partners in the locality vis-à-vis the needed knowledge, training, and skills of SHS graduates to match the said demand, using the labor market demand forecast under Sec. 6, and the skills database under Sec. 7 hereof.

Taking into consideration the local roadmaps developed at the provincial, city, and municipal levels, the National Council shall craft a parallel National Batang Magaling Roadmap to achieve the objective under

Sec. 3 of this Act. The provincial Local Councils shall similarly craft their

respective Provincial Batang Magaling Roadmaps based on the Municipal and Component Cities Batang Magaling Roadmaps, while the city Local Councils shall base their respective City Batang Magaling Roadmaps on the WIPs within the locality under their jurisdiction.

Sec. 5. Work Immersion Programs. - The WIPs that are mandated to be offered

10 by education institutions offering the SHS Program shall develop in learners the competencies, skills, work ethic, and values relevant to pursuing further education or joining the world of work. The WIP shall be based on the Batang Magaling Roadmap and designed to match the needs of the learners and the capabilities of the education institutions vis-à-vis the demands of the work immersion industry partners. The Schools Division Office of the DepEd shall approve the WIP as proposed in 17 these provinces, cities, or municipalities, in accordance with DepEd policies and issuances, and with due compliance to legal and administrative prescriptions on the number of hours and delivery models, among others.

Sec. 6. Labor Market Demand Forecasting. - To align the WIP with market demand

and ensure that the knowledge, training, and skills of SHS graduates match the in- demand and projected in-demand jobs of industry partners in the locality, the Councils are hereby mandated to conduct labor market demand studies every three (3) years, using quarterly local labor market data collected by the PESO. The data derived from such demand forecast shall serve as the basis for the work immersion component of the SHS Program, the Batang Magaling Roadmaps, the WIPs, the trainings to be conducted, the resources to be procured, and the skills to be developed

among the learners, among others. The demand forecast will also allow education institutions to focus on employable skills as determined by medium- to long-term labor market demand.

Sec. 7. Batang Magaling Database; Centralized Skills Database in Collaboration

with DOLE. - The DepEd, in collaboration with the DOLE, shall develop, maintain, and update a centralized nationwide database of skills information to serve as a one-stop shop for all matters related to the employment of SHS graduates. The Batang Magaling Database shall help strengthen the education institutions' 9 linkages and collaboration with industry partners, facilitating the meeting of skills demand within the province, city, municipality, and the country as a whole. The Batang Magaling database shall register the demographic profile of learners, including, but not limited to, their educational background, track and strand completed in SHS, training, skills, competencies, work immersion performance, course taken after SHS, work experience, and employment history. The Batang Magaling Database shall contain the profiles, employment demands, and vacancies, among others, of industry partners and government agencies. In particular, it shall include the list of first-level government positions open to qualified SHS graduates, as determined by the Civil Service Commission (CSC), and the list of entry- level positions from private corporations, as determined by the DOLE in coordination with industry partners.

Sec. 8. Affirmative Hiring of SHS Graduates; Industry Partners; Civil Service

Commission. - In order to support the employability and workforce integration of SHS graduates under the K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum, the following measures shall be undertaken to provide employment opportunities within government agencies and industry partners: a. Private Sector Employment. The industry partners are enjoined to rethink and review their hiring policies and job requirements to provide employment opportunities, such as entry-level

positions, to SHS graduates of the K to 12 Program. Accordingly, all private corporations with a workforce of at least one hundred (100) employees are encouraged to employ not less than one percent (1%) of entry-level positions for SHS graduates. For this purpose, the DOLE, in coordination with DepEd and relevant industry partners, shall determine the appropriate entry-level positions that may be opened to qualified SHS graduates. The DOLE shall likewise issue the necessary rules and regulations to implement this provision, taking into consideration the nature of the business, applicable qualification standards, and the operational capacity of private corporations. Private corporations that comply with this provision shall be entitled to the additional item of deduction from their gross income under Sec. 11 of this Act: Provided, however, that such employment of SHS graduates shall continue for a period of at least six (6) months. b. Public Sector Employment. The CSC is hereby mandated to review the qualification standards (QS) for government employment and revise its policies to integrate the qualifications of SHS graduates. The CSC shall identify and determine first-level government positions that may be opened to qualified SHS graduates and is further mandated to allocate such positions to SHS graduates: Provided, That they have passed the CSC's sub-professional examination and have complied with the applicable QS, which may include, among others, education, experience, training, and eligibility, in order to open appropriate employment opportunities in government agencies. c. Capacity Building Programs. The DOLE, in coordination with the CSC, DepEd, TESDA, and other relevant government agencies, shall conduct studies and research for the crafting of

strategies and training programs to strengthen the workplace readiness and skills development, minimize the impediments to SHS employment, and promote the affirmative hiring of SHS graduates.

Sec. 9. Quality Assurance by the TESDA of the SHS Program of the DepEd; National

Competency Assessments; National Certificates. - The DepEd shall comply with the quality assurance framework set by the TESDA and ensure that the SHS program offerings meet the necessary criteria for TESDA's Training Regulations program registration. The DepEd, in coordination with the TESDA, shall provide, free of charge, the national competency assessments to DepEd SHS Program learners upon their graduation. SHS graduates who pass such assessments shall be awarded the appropriate National Certificates (NCs) which shall serve as formal recognition of their skills and competencies in accordance with the standards set by the TESDA.

Sec. 10. Joint Delivery Voucher Program for Senior High School Technical-

Vocational-Livelihood Specializations (JDVP-TVL). - The JDVP-TVL, a program designed by the DepEd to allow SHS learners enrolled in public schools to avail of vouchers and take their desired TVL specializations in eligible partner institutions from private SHSs, non-DepEd public SHSs, or TESDA-accredited private Technical Vocational Institutes, shall be utilized to enable such learners to receive instruction and training and complete their needed TVL skills and competencies. The rules and regulations to be issued pursuant to Sec. 14 of this Act shall prescribe the guidelines for the implementation of the JDVP-TVL in cases where the specialization desired by the learner is not offered by the public education institution where he or she is enrolled.

Sec. 11. Deductible Training Expenses from Taxable Income; Additional Item of

Deduction. - Industry partners that incur training expenses for the skills development of SHS learners participating in the WIP shall be allowed the additional item of deduction

from their taxable income under Sec. 34 (A) (1) (a) (v) of R.A. No. 8424 or the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) of 1997, as amended by R.A. No. 11534 or "CREATE". In addition, industry partners that comply with Sec. 8 (a) of this Act shall be entitled to an additional deduction from their gross income for the salaries and wages paid to SHS graduates, subject to the provision of Sec. 34 of the NIRC, as amended: Provided, however, That such employment shall continue for a period of at least six (6) months. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), in collaboration with the DepEd and DOLE, shall issue the appropriate rules for availing this incentive, including simplified processes and streamlined requirements for compliance and reporting.

Sec. 12. Mandatory Review and Impact Assessment. - The DepEd, in collaboration

with the National Council, shall conduct a mandatory review of the implementation of this Act and submit an assessment report to Congress on its impact and effectiveness, not later than two (2) years from its effectivity and every two (2) years thereafter.

Sec. 13. Appropriations. - The amount necessary for the initial implementation of

this Act shall be charged against the current year's appropriations of the departments and other agencies concerned. Thereafter, the amount necessary for its continued implementation shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act. The funding requirements needed for the implementation of this Act by local government units may be charged against their local funds.

Sec. 14. Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). - Within ninety (90) days

from the effectivity of this Act, the DepEd, CSC, DOLE, TESDA, and other public and private stakeholders, including industry partners, shall issue the rules and regulations implementing its provisions. The IRR issued pursuant to this section shall take effect thirty (30) days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation.

Sec. 15. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is held invalid or

unconstitutional, the other provisions not so declared shall remain in force and effect.

Sec. 16. Repealing Clause. - All laws, executive orders, presidential decrees,

administrative orders, rules and regulations, issuances, or parts thereof contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.

Sec. 17. Effectivity. - Notwithstanding the non-issuance of the IRR, this Act shall

take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. Approved, CO