According to private-sector led advocacy group Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) that is founded and financed by the country’s top business leaders, the quality of education that future Filipino teachers are getting needs a lot of improvement as more than half of the schools training them fare poorly in the annual licensure exams for educators.
PBEd executive director Justine Raagas cited the 2022 research done by the government’s socioeconomic policy think tank Philippines Institute for Developmental Studies (PIDS), which stated that low teacher qualification was a major factor in the low quality of education and poor performance of students.
A team of PBEd researchers that analyzed 12 years’ worth of licensure examination for teachers (LET) data and merged it with other data points from the Commission on Higher Education, found that 56 percent of the schools nationwide offering teacher education had below-average LET passing rates since 2010, putting teacher quality into question.
Diane Fajardo, PBEd deputy executive director, added they had done a similar study back in 2013 which yielded the same results after 9 years, pointing out that nothing has changed.
Moreover, only 2 percent of schools offering teacher education were classified as high-performing (LET passing rates of at least 75 percent), leading PBEd to say government should consider closing down programs of low-performing schools.
PBEd policy and advocacy manager Jose Andoni Santos laid down their policy recommendations that included focusing on building more and maintaining Centers of Excellence per region and strictly monitoring performance. The curriculum of teach education and licensure exam questions also needs a review in relation to the Department of Education’s professional standards for teachers.
PBEd officials expressed hope that their study could act as a catalyst to improve teacher education in the Philippines.
That will only happen if government is taking notice and the officials responsible and accountable are willing to institute the necessary changes to improve the quality of education in this country. Starting with the quality of the country’s teachers seems like a logical first step. Hopefully the Department of Education is paying attention to the statistics that matter as it comes up with its list of priorities.*
