While in-service training could help teachers with their professional development, Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian on Monday, July 19 maintained that aspiring teachers should start receiving quality education and training from teacher education institutions (TEIs), during their pre-service training.
Reforming the teacher education system was one of the proposals put forth by the Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture when it recognized the crisis in the education sector as early as 2020.
Gatchalian, committee chairman, stressed that while recognizing and declaring a crisis was the easier part following our learners’ poor performance in international large-scale assessments, the more important thing to do is to pursue and implement reforms immediately for the sake of the country’s learners.
For Gatchalian, teacher quality and teacher education are crucial inputs to improve learner outcomes and reverse the education crisis.
Gatchalian pointed out that most of the graduates of TEIs in the country have been performing poorly in the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET).
Between 2010 to 2019, only 35 percent passed the LET for the secondary level, while only 28 percent passed for the elementary level.
Gatchalian emphasized that in 2019, roughly four out of five TEIs are considered ‘Worse or Poor Performers’ in the LET for both elementary and secondary levels. These are TEIs with passing rates of less than 50 percent.
Readiness to teach the K to 12 curriculum is another challenge, Gatchalian pointed out.
A 2016 report by the World Bank and Australian Aid showed that except for English elementary teachers, the average elementary or high school teacher could correctly answer fewer than half of questions on subject content tests.
To improve the quality of teacher education and training in the country, Gatchalian’s Senate Bill 2152, or the Teacher Education Excellence Act, seeks to empower the Teacher Education Council (TEC) and make it a responsive coordinating body between the Department of Education (DepEd), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).
Strengthening the coordination between these three agencies will align pre-service and in-service education to improve the quality of teachers, and improve the quality of education in elementary and secondary schools, Gatchalian explained.
The bill also seeks to institutionalize the National Educators’ Academy of the Philippines (NEAP), the professional development arm of DepEd. NEAP will coordinate with the TEC to provide quality professional development programs to in-service teachers, school leaders, and other teaching-related personnel.
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