Senator Joel Villanueva has slammed the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) for cancelling the September, 2021 licensure exams for teachers.
During the Senate's plenary session on Monday, September 20, the chairman of the Senate labor committee manifested his dismay with the PRC suspending again the Licensure Exam for Professional Teachers (LEPT).
“Last night (Sunday), the PRC postponed the LET for the fourth time in NCR (National Capital Region), Lucena, Romblon, and Butuan, only seven days before the scheduled examination this coming Sunday, September 26, 2021,” Villanueva said after the Senate approved on final reading the bill strenghthening the Teacher Education Council (TEC) to improve the quality of teachers.
“The postponements and cancellations have been going on for almost two years now,” he lamented.
In an advisory on social media, the PRC said the postponement of the examinations was pursuant to the recommendations of the government's pandemic task force and the directives of the concerned local government units.
While stressing that he understands the health risks of holding the board exams amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Villanueva said he was perplexed over some of the PRC's actions.
He said the PRC would announce exam schedules in advance, or at least eight months, ahead in the case of the September, 2021 LEPT, only to cancel a few days before the exam date.
“Paasa. ‘Yan po ang description sa PRC ngayon ng ating mga kababayan. Ang problema, hindi lang naman po kumukuyakoy na naghihintay sa bahay ang mga examinees. Nagbabayad po ang mga ‘yan sa mga review centers, hindi pa kasali ang non-refundable P900 application fee nila sa PRC (They give people false hope. That's how our countrymen describe the PRC now. The problem is, examinees do not just wait for the exams. They pay review centers, and this does not include the non-refundable P900 application fee in the PRC),” the senator said.
“The PRC seems to lack humane consideration,” he further said.
Aside from this, Villanueva said the PRC has a "long list of requirements" for those taking the board exams: 14-day quarantine certificate, a medical certificate, and negative RT-PCR test results paid for by examinees.
Villanueva noted that out of the 101 board exams scheduled this year, only 24 pushed through.
“The PRC seems stuck in its old ways,” he said, recalling that he has been asking the commission to lay out plans in conducting board exams even during the pandemic.
But he said the commission has only mentioned of a "plan" to migrate their examinations online, and has yet to give any proposal to the Senate on how they can be assisted.
"There’s also nothing in their proposed budget for computerization of board exams,” Villanueva also mentioned.
“Is the PRC not aware that the ‘new normal’ is already in our midst for two years now? When will they realize that we can no longer return to the old ways?” the senator asked.