The Department of Finance (DOF) shared that the Philippine Tax Academy has several plans this 2019, which include off-campus specialised study program on public finance along with online courses. According to a recent report, this specialised post-graduate course is open to personnel of the DOF, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF).
This study program will be offered in partnership with the Graduate School of the University of the Philippines campus in Los Baños, Laguna (UPLB).
Offering online courses will make these available to more employees seeking additional knowledge and training.
This setup would be cheaper than organising courses that require the physical presence of employees.
Plus, it would allow PTA courses to be available to all personnel of the Department and its attached agencies nationwide.
The Department of Finance Secretary directed the Department’s Undersecretary to guarantee that the Academy would be staffed with a lean, but “digitally enabled” workforce.
The Academy should also be able to offer online courses once it gets its budget in 2019.
The Secretary wanted a small staff but they should be digitally enabled.
Moreover, the Academy has plans for senior officials of the Department to join the teaching team as adjunct professors.
In addition, pre-requisite courses on journal writing skills and other minor courses will also be conducted by the Academy.
The Academy’s program, curriculum and syllabus were developed based on ASEAN University Network Standards. Furthermore, the Academy has also submitted to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) its three-year Strategic Information Plan.
This plan includes setting up an information system for the Academy to facilitate knowledge sharing.
The institution is the first of its kind in the country.
Not only will it provide the country’s revenue collectors and administrators with continuing training on best practices in order to sharpen their competitiveness, but it also aims to heighten their commitment to their profession and raise their ethical standards. Under RA 10143, the PTA “shall serve as a learning institution for tax collectors and administrators of the government and selected applicants from the private sector.”
This law provides that, “All existing officials and personnel of the BIR, the BOC and the BLGF shall be required to undergo the re-tooling and enhancement seminars and training programs to be conducted by the Philippine Tax Academy.”
It also requires “all applicants to the said bureaus to pass the basic courses before they can be hired whether on contractual or permanent status.” An earlier report highlighted how selected online courses and classes of the Academy will leverage on cloud in order to allow remote access through the comforts of their own computers, tablet, or smartphones.
