Senator Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian on Friday aired his concerns about the quality of teacher education in the country. He is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts, and Culture.
Gatchalian lamented the low passing rates of the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) and the Philippines’ dismal ranking for mathematics and science, among 79 participating countries in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
A study conducted by the World Bank Group and Australian Aid revealed that aside from English elementary teachers, the average Filipino elementary and high school teacher can only answer less than half of the questions correctly in subject content exams.
Gatchalian further noted that by aligning the pre-service education of teachers with the requirements of the Department of Education (DepEd), the government may be able to uplift the quality of teacher education. He also emphasized the need to “fix and strengthen” the public school system, in order to strengthen the country.
“At the end of the day, what we want is better outcomes for our learners. Better outcomes come from better inputs, and teacher quality and teacher education are part of those better inputs,” Gatchalian said.
During a Senate panel hearing, Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) Board for Professional Teachers Chairman Dr. Rosita Navarro reported that from 2014 to 2017, the passing rate for first-time LET examinees for the secondary level was 48.86 percent, while at the elementary level, 30.65 percent.
In 2019, the passing rate for March 2019 LET takers was 27.29 percent and 31.34 percent for September 2019 LET takers.
Photo: Facebook/Senator Win Gatchalian
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