There is need to upgrade the state of teacher-education to improve the delivery of quality education in the country, a lawmaker today stressed.
"To a large extent, the quality of education depends on the qualifications and competence of teachers,” Rep. Roman Romulo (Lone District, Pasig City) said.
Romulo is author of HR 1814, "A Resolution directing the committee on higher and technical education to inquire, in aid of legislation, on the state of teacher education in the country, particularly on the low passing rates of examinees in the Licensure Examination for Teachers, with the end in view of improving the quality of teachers and the delivery of quality education.”
The author cited a World Bank study showing that most of the Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) graduates do not pass the Licensure Examinations for Teachers (LET) even if it replaced the Professional Board Examination for Teachers (PBET), which had an average national passing rate of only about 24 percent from 1992 to 1995, with the enactment of Republic Act 7836.
The same study also showed that between 1996 and 1998, the number of TEIs increased and reached more than 800, which resulted in the opening of low-quality programs that did not meet the minimum standards of accreditation and only less than 30 percent complied with the minimum standards set by the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) for teacher education.
With the rapid increase in enrollees in teacher education, Romulo noted the proliferation of TEIs offering teacher education which created a situation where TEIs not only produced too many graduates but contributed to the problem of low quality teachers.
"Based on a study conducted by the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) on the LET performance of all TEIs in the country for nine instances of LET from October 2009 to September 2013, the national passing rate was only 54 percent,” Romulo revealed.
He added that the same study showed that only eight out of 16 graduates who are first time takers pass the LET while the other eight repeaters have an average passing rate of only 16 percent.
"While there are top TEIs, the study found it also alarming that there are more than 100 TEIs that perform below the national passing rate and are considered ‘worse performing schools’ because only less than 20 percent of their graduates pass the LET, while 17 TEIs were considered ‘worst performing schools’ for having zero passers in the LET since October 2009 for both first-time takers and repeaters, based on data from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC),” he said.
Furthermore, Romulo cited date released by the PRC showing that for the 2014 LET, only 35.74 percent or 23,301 elementary teachers out of 70,786 examinees, and only 34.40 percent or 26, 767 secondary teachers out of 77,803 examinees passed the LET given on august 17, 2014.
Also, in January 2014, the PRC announced that only 28.95 percent or 11,120 elementary teachers out of 38,377 examinees, and only 28.41 percent or 12,033 secondary teachers out of 42,358 examinees successfully passed the LET, the author said.
He lamented that in the "Review and Assessment of Programs offered by State Universities and Colleges (SUCs)” conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) in March 2014, it was revealed that the average passing rates of SUCs in LET from 2004 to 2011 have been below 30 percent of the national passing average.
The Philippine Normal University was designated as the National Center for Teacher Education with the enactment of RA 9647, which mandates it to share research and competence in education research with other TEIs and to advise the country’s policy makers and decision-makers in planning, implementing and evaluating reforms in teacher education, including the licensing of professional teachers, Romulo added.
"There is an urgent need to look into the state of teacher education in the country and to implement the necessary reforms that will address the various issues and concerns and prevent the further deterioration of the quality of teachers in the country, Romulo said.
