MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) must act on its resolution to close down teacher education programs that fail to meet minimum standards, a lawmaker emphasized on Thursday.
Rep. Kristine Alexie Besas Tutor (Bohol, 3rd district), chair of the House committee on civil service and professional regulation, called on CHED to turn its resolution into a formal memorandum for implementation.
“The CHED resolution has yet to be translated into a CHED memorandum order which implements the resolution. Implementation is also a different matter entirely,” Tutor stated.
Tutor highlighted that similar promises to shut down underperforming teacher education programs have been made in the past without fruition.
“I want to believe it will finally happen because it must be done to stop the further deterioration of basic education nationwide,” she added.
The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) noted that CHED had revised its memorandum order nos. 74 to 80 and 82, series of 2017, to enhance the quality of pre-service teacher education in the country. The revised policy allows CHED to issue immediate closure notices for teacher education institutions (TEIs) that consistently underperform in the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) and fail to meet minimum standards.
A study based on 12 years of data from the Professional Regulatory Commission and CHED revealed that over half (56%) of all TEIs have performed below average in the annual licensure exams for elementary and secondary education teachers. The 2023 study by the education advocacy group Philippine Business for Education found that only 2% of schools offering teacher education can be classified as “high-performing,” with passing rates of at least 75%.
With these findings, Tutor stressed the urgency for CHED to enforce its resolution to ensure the improvement of teacher education programs and ultimately enhance the quality of education in the Philippines.
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