CODE OF ETHICS FOR PROFESSIONAL TEACHERS

Pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (e), Article 11, of R.A. No. 7836,
otherwise known as the Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act of
1994 and paragraph (a), section 6, P.D. No. 223, as amended, the Board
for Professional Teachers hereby adopt the Code of Ethics for
Professional Teachers.

Preamble

Teachers are duly licensed professionals who possess dignity and

reputation with high moral values as well as technical and professional
competence in the practice of their noble profession, and they strictly
adhere to, observe, and practice this set of ethical and moral principles,
standards, and values.

Article I: Scope and Limitations

Section 1. The Philippine Constitution provides that all educational

institution shall offer quality education for all competent teachers.
Committed to its full realization, the provision of this Code shall apply,
therefore, to all teachers in schools in the Philippines.

Section 2. This Code covers all public and private school teachers in all
educational institutions at the preschool, primary, elementary, and
secondary levels whether academic, vocational, special, technical, or
non-formal. The term “teacher” shall include industrial arts or vocational
teachers and all other persons performing supervisory and /or
administrative functions in all school at the aforesaid levels, whether on
full time or part-time basis.

Article II: The Teacher and the State

Section 1. The schools are the nurseries of the future citizens of the
state; each teacher is a trustee of the cultural and educational heritage of
the nation and is under obligation to transmit to learners such heritage
as well as to elevate national morality, promote national pride, cultivate
love of country, instil allegiance to the constitution and for all duly
constituted authorities, and promote obedience to the laws of the state.

Section 2. Every teacher or school official shall actively help carry out the
declared policies of the state, and shall take an oath to this effect.

Section 3. In the interest of the State and of the Filipino people as much
as of his own, every teacher shall be physically, mentally and morally fit.

Section 4. Every teacher shall possess and actualize a full commitment

and devotion to duty.

Section 5. A teacher shall not engage in the promotion of any political,

religious, or other partisan interest, and shall not, directly or indirectly,
solicit, require, collect, or receive any money or service or other valuable
material from any person or entity for such purposes.

Section 6. Every teacher shall vote and shall exercise all other
constitutional rights and responsibility.

Section 7. A teacher shall not use his position or official authority or

influence to coerce any other person to follow any political course of
action.

Section 8. Every teacher shall enjoy academic freedom and shall have
privilege of expounding the product of his researches and investigations;
provided that, if the results are inimical to the declared policies of the
State, they shall be brought to the proper authorities for appropriate
remedial action.

Article III: The Teacher and the Community

Section 1. A teacher is a facilitator of learning and of the development of

the youth; he shall, therefore, render the best service by providing an
environment conducive to such learning and growth.

Section 2. Every teacher shall provide leadership and initiative to actively

participate in community movements for moral, social, educational,
economic and civic betterment.
Section 3. Every teacher shall merit reasonable social recognition for
which purpose he shall behave with honor and dignity at all times and
refrain from such activities as gambling, smoking, drunkenness, and
other excesses, much less illicit relations.

Section 4. Every teacher shall live for and with the community and shall,
therefore, study and understand local customs and traditions in order to
have sympathetic attitude, therefore, refrain from disparaging the
community.

Section 5. Every teacher shall help the school keep the people in the
community informed about the school’s work and accomplishments as
well as its needs and problems.

Section 6. Every teacher is intellectual leader in the community,

especially in the barangay, and shall welcome the opportunity to provide
such leadership when needed, to extend counselling services, as
appropriate, and to actively be involved in matters affecting the welfare of
the people.

Section 7. Every teacher shall maintain harmonious and pleasant

personal and official relations with other professionals, with government
officials, and with the people, individually or collectively.

Section 8. A teacher possesses freedom to attend church and worships

as appropriate, but shall not use his positions and influence to proselyte
others.

Article IV: A Teacher and the Profession

Section 1. Every teacher shall actively insure that teaching is the noblest
profession, and shall manifest genuine enthusiasm and pride in teaching
as a noble calling.

Section 2. Every teacher shall uphold the highest possible standards of

quality education, shall make the best preparations for the career of
teaching, and shall be at his best at all times and in the practice of his
profession.

Section 3. Every teacher shall participate in the Continuing Professional

Education (CPE) program of the Professional Regulation Commission,
and shall pursue such other studies as will improve his efficiency,
enhance the prestige of the profession, and strengthen his competence,
virtues, and productivity in order to be nationally and internationally
competitive.

Section 4. Every teacher shall help, if duly authorized, to seek support

from the school, but shall not make improper misrepresentations
through personal advertisements and other questionable means.

Section 5. Every teacher shall use the teaching profession in a manner

that makes it dignified means for earning a decent living.

Article V: The Teachers and the Profession

Section 1. Teachers shall, at all times, be imbued with the spirit of

professional loyalty, mutual confidence, and faith in one another, self-
sacrifice for the common good; and full cooperation with colleagues.
When the best interest of the learners, the school, or the profession is at
stake in any controversy, teachers shall support one another.

Section 2. A teacher is not entitled to claim credit or work not of his own,
and shall give due credit for the work of others which he may use.

Section 3. Before leaving his position, a teacher shall organize for

whoever assumes the position such records and other data as are
necessary to carry on the work.

Section 4. A teacher shall hold inviolate all confidential information

concerning associates and the school, and shall not divulge to anyone
documents which has not been officially released, or remove records from
files without permission.

Section 5. It shall be the responsibility of every teacher to seek

correctives for what may appear to be an unprofessional and unethical
conduct of any associate. However, this may be done only if there is
incontrovertible evidence for such conduct.

Section 6. A teacher may submit to the proper authorities any justifiable

criticism against an associate, preferably in writing, without violating the
right of the individual concerned.

Section 7. A teacher may apply for a vacant position for which he is

qualified; provided that he respects the system of selection on the basis
of merit and competence; provided, further, that all qualified candidates
are given the opportunity to be considered.
Article VI: The Teacher and Higher Authorities in the Profession
Section 1. Every teacher shall make it his duty to make an honest effort
to understand and support the legitimate policies of the school and the
administration regardless of personal feeling or private opinion and shall
faithfully carry them out.

Section 2. A teacher shall not make any false accusations or charges

against superiors, especially under anonymity. However, if there are valid
charges, he should present such under oath to competent authority.

Section 3. A teacher shall transact all official business through channels

except when special conditions warrant a different procedure, such as
when special conditions are advocated but are opposed by immediate
superiors, in which case, the teacher shall appeal directly to the
appropriate higher authority.

Section 4. Every teacher, individually or as part of a group, has a right to

seek redress against injustice to the administration and to extent
possible, shall raise grievances within acceptable democratic possesses.
In doing so, they shall avoid jeopardizing the interest and the welfare of
learners whose right to learn must be respected.

Section 5. Every teacher has a right to invoke the principle that

appointments, promotions, and transfer of teachers are made only on the
basis of merit and needed in the interest of the service.

Section 6. A teacher who accepts a position assumes a contractual

obligation to live up to his contract, assuming full knowledge of
employment terms and conditions.

Article VII: School Officials, Teachers, and Other Personnel Section

1. All school officials shall at all times show professional courtesy,
helpfulness and sympathy towards teachers and other personnel, such
practices being standards of effective school supervision, dignified
administration, responsible leadership and enlightened directions.

Section 2. School officials, teachers, and other school personnel shall

consider it their cooperative responsibility to formulate policies or
introduce important changes in the system at all levels.

Section 3. School officials shall encourage and attend the professional

growth of all teachers under them such as recommending them for
promotion, giving them due recognition for meritorious performance, and
allowing them to participate in conferences in training programs.

Section 4. No school officials shall dismiss or recommend for dismissal a

teacher or other subordinates except for cause.

Section 5. School authorities concern shall ensure that public school

teachers are employed in accordance with pertinent civil service rules,
and private school teachers are issued contracts specifying the terms and
conditions of their work; provided that they are given, if qualified,
subsequent permanent tenure, in accordance with existing laws.

Article VIII: The Teachers and Learners

Section 1. A teacher has a right and duty to determine the academic

marks and the promotions of learners in the subject or grades he
handles, provided that such determination shall be in accordance with
generally accepted procedures of evaluation and measurement. In case of
any complaint, teachers concerned shall immediately take appropriate
actions, observing due process.

Section 2. A teacher shall recognize that the interest and welfare of

learners are of first and foremost concern, and shall deal justifiably and
impartially with each of them.

Section 3. Under no circumstance shall a teacher be prejudiced or

discriminate against a learner.

Section 4. A teacher shall not accept favors or gifts from learners, their
parents or others in their behalf in exchange for requested concessions,
especially if undeserved.

Section 5. A teacher shall not accept, directly or indirectly, any

remuneration from tutorials other what is authorized for such service.

Section 6. A teacher shall base the evaluation of the learner’s work only
in merit and quality of academic performance.

Section 7. In a situation where mutual attraction and subsequent love

develop between teacher and learner, the teacher shall exercise utmost
professional discretion to avoid scandal, gossip and preferential
treatment of the learner.
Section 8. A teacher shall not inflict corporal punishment on offending
learners nor make deductions from their scholastic ratings as a
punishment for acts which are clearly not manifestation of poor
scholarship.

Section 9. A teacher shall ensure that conditions contribute to the

maximum development of learners are adequate, and shall extend
needed assistance in preventing or solving learner’s problems and
difficulties.

Article IX: The Teachers and Parents

Section 1. Every teacher shall establish and maintain cordial relations

with parents, and shall conduct himself to merit their confidence and
respect.

Section 2. Every teacher shall inform parents, through proper

authorities, of the progress and deficiencies of learner under him,
exercising utmost candour and tact in pointing out the learner's
deficiencies and in seeking parent’s cooperation for the proper guidance
and improvement of the learners.

Section 3. A teacher shall hear parent’s complaints with sympathy and

understanding, and shall discourage unfair criticism.

Article X: The Teacher and Business

Section 1. A teacher has the right to engage, directly or indirectly, in

legitimate income generation; provided that it does not relate to or
adversely affect his work as a teacher.

Section 2. A teacher shall maintain a good reputation with respect to the

financial matters such as in the settlement of his debts and loans in
arranging satisfactorily his private financial affairs.

Section 3. No teacher shall act, directly or indirectly, as agent of, or be

financially interested in, any commercial venture which furnish
textbooks and other school commodities in the purchase and disposal of
which he can exercise official influence, except only when his assignment
is inherently, related to such purchase and disposal; provided they shall
be in accordance with the existing regulations; provided, further, that
members of duly recognized teachers cooperatives may participate in the
distribution and sale of such commodities.
Article XI: The Teacher as a Person

Section 1. A teacher is, above all, a human being endowed with life for
which it is the highest obligation to live with dignity at all times whether
in school, in the home, or elsewhere.

Section 2. A teacher shall place premium upon self-discipline as the

primary principle of personal behavior in all relationships with others
and in all situations.

Section 3. A teacher shall maintain at all times a dignified personality

which could serve as a model worthy of emulation by learners, peers and
all others.

Section 4. A teacher shall always recognize the Almighty God as guide of

his own destiny and of the destinies of men and nations.

Article XII: Disciplinary Actions

Section 1. Any violation of any provision of this code shall be sufficient

ground for the imposition against the erring teacher of the disciplinary
action consisting of revocation of his Certification of Registration and
License as a Professional Teacher, suspension from the practice of
teaching profession, or reprimand or cancellation of his
temporary/special permit under causes specified in Sec. 23, Article III or
R.A. No. 7836, and under Rule 31, Article VIII, of the Rules and
Regulations Implementing R.A. 7836.

Article XIII: Effectivity

Section 1. This Code shall take effect upon approval by the Professional
Regulation Commission and after sixty (60) days following its publication
in the Official Gazette or any newspaper of general circulation, whichever
is earlier.