PRC prescribes guidelines on Continuing Professional Education; Reconstitution of Architects' CPEC announced
In its Resolution No. 2008-465, the Professional Regulation Commission recently mandated all registered professionals to attend duly accredited continuing professional education courses from duly accredited continuing professional education provides. The aim of which to maintain their status in good standing in their respective professions and to ensure their competitiveness in the light of liberalization of trade in services under the 4th Protocol of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) pursued by the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the ASEAN where the Republic of the Philippines is an active member.
It may be noted that under the said protocol, the Philippines is mandated to ensure it can offer competitively to other WTO members professional services in Health and Education, Marketing and Distribution, Telecommunications, Business Outsourcing Services, Information Technology, Engineering, Architectural and other construction services, Tourism and allied services, Transportation and Logistic services, among others.
As a result of this resolution, all forty-four (44) state-regulated professions shall undergo the continuing professional development (CPD) program in order that all PRC-registered and licensed professionals shall be afforded opportunities to improve their stock knowledge and the skills pertaining to their chosen professions, i.e. to keep abreast with global professional practices and to help make the Filipino regulated professionals truly world class.
Among the key innovations/ differences with the previous continuing professional education (CPE) programs are:
1. that the new CPD program shall be strictly voluntary (and NOT mandatory); as such, no CPD credit units shall be required by the PRC for the renewal of the PRC identification (ID) cards i.e. the three (3)-year PRC-issued licenses to practice architecture;
2. that testing and the passing of CPD tests/ examinations shall be mandatory to earn the full credit units.
The CPD requirement for professional self-improvement shall still be at twenty (20) credit units a year or sixty (60) credit units for the three (3) year period covered by a renewed PRC ID/ license to practice.
Cognizant of this responsibility to hone and improve the knowledge and skills of regulated professionals, the Professional Regulatory Board of Architecture (PRBoA) announced that the Architects’ Continuing Professional Education Council (CPEC) will be formally reconstituted and members shall be sworn into office by the PRC on Thursday, 18 September 2008 at the 3rd Floor of the PRC Main Building, Paredes St., Manila from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM.
The CPEC for Architects shall have three (3) members appointed by / nominated from the: 1) Professional Regulatory Board of Architecture (PRBoA); 2) the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP); and 3) the Council of Deans and Heads of Architectural Schools in the Philippines (CODHASP).
The primary functions of the CPEC include but are not limited to: 1) the accreditation of CPD Providers i.e. institutions, organizations, schools, firms and individuals; and 2) the approval of CPD courses.
The future of CPD may include the following: 1) the use of earned CPD units (in parallel consideration of verifiable professional practice duly certified by the IAPoA and/or the PRBoA) to lead to the granting by the PRBoA of a Certificate of Specialized Practice in Architecture; and 2) the possible use of the same CPD credits earned to lead to the possible granting by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) of a possible academic degree (to be possibly based on equivalencies to be officially established and approved by the CHED).
For RLAs wishing to avail of CPD credits, these may be earned through the following modes:
1) CPD program offerings/ courses by CPD Providers duly accredited by the Continuing Professional Education Council (CPEC) for Registered and Licensed Architects (RLAs) and approved by the PRC; 2) CHED-recognized graduate (masters) and post-graduate (doctoral) academic degrees earned via residential or distance modes; 3) Self-directed Learning Packages; 4) Authorship; 5) Invention; 6) Post Graduate/ In-Service Training; and 7) Study/ Observation Tours; 8) Professorial Chairs; and 9) Other modes recommended by the CPEC for PRC approval.
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