Refresher course, bigger board: Lawmakers eye tweaking licensure exam for teachers

MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers in the House of Representatives have filed a bill requiring a refresher course for those who fail to pass the licensure exam for teachers thrice and expanding the membership of the board that conducts the tests.

House Bill 8559, which was filed on June 22, seeks to enhance Republic Act 7836 or the Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act “with the prevailing situation and needs of the education sector and to further meet the objectives set by the law,” it said in its explanatory note.

The bill was filed by Rep. Mark Go (Baguio City, Lone District) and Rep. Roman Romulo (Pasig, Lone District), who chairs the House higher education and basic education panels, respectively, as well as Rep. Khalid Dimaporo (Lanao del Norte, 1st District), Rep. PJ Garcia (Cebu, 3rd District), and Rep. Kiko Benitez (Negros Occidental, 3rd District). 

All five lawmakers who filed the measure are members of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2), a congressional body tasked with a three-year review of the country’s whole education system.

The bill adds a provision that requires those who fail to pass the teacher examinations thrice to complete a refresher course in a Teacher Education Institute accredited by the Commission on Higher Education. Applicants must complete the course before being allowed to retake the licensure examination. 

Possible DepEd, CHED membership in board

The measure also allows more government and non-government representatives from the education sector to be part of the nomination pool of the Board of Professional Teachers — the body tasked with conducting the annual licensure examinations for teachers. 

HB 8559 opens the Board membership to representatives from the Teachers Education Council, Department of Education (DepEd), accredited association of private schools and school administrators, and CHED.

Currently, members are selected by the president based on a list of "recommendees" submitted by the Professional Regulation Commission, according to the Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act. The "recomendees" are drawn from a list of nominees submitted by "accredited associations of teachers.”

Members of the board are required to have an education-related degree, a professional license as a teacher, and to have practiced as a professional teacher for at least 10 years at the elementary and secondary level, as stated in the Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act.

More inclusive qualifications 

The House measure also seeks additional qualifications for teachers who wish to teach children with special needs and specialized subjects, such as technology and livelihood, physical education and arts and design. 

The bill requires the following qualifications:

• For special needs teachers in the elementary and secondary grades, a bachelor’s degree in special needs in education;
• For technology and livelihood education (TLE) teachers in the elementary and secondary grades, a bachelor’s degree in Technology and Livelihood Education;
• For TLE teachers in grades 9-10, SHS teachers for the Tech-Voc Livelihood Track, TVET trainers/instructors, and faculty members in higher education institutions, a bachelor’s degree in Technical-Vocational Teacher Education;
• For Physical Education Teachers in the elementary and secondary grades, a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education;
• For teachers in the secondary grades, specifically SHS under the arts and design track, a bachelor’s degree in Culture and Arts Education

Education advocacy group Philippine Business for Education has previously flagged the dismal performance of graduates of teacher education institutions in the annual LET, based on data from the PRC and CHED. 

The group's analysis found that since 2010, more than half of schools offering teacher education had below-average passing rates in the LET.

The private sector group also pointed out that only 2% of schools offering teacher education can be classified as "high-performing" or those with LET passing rates of at least 75%.

The group also flagged CHED for its criteria in awarding a Center of Excellence (COE) and Center of Development (COD) status to schools with teacher education programs, as it found that more than 81% of COEs and 91% of CODs were not achieving high passing rates in the licensure exams.