Press Release
April 29, 2012

WE WILL NEED MORE HIGH-QUALITY TEACHERS FOR K+12 - ANGARA

Senator Edgardo J. Angara underscored the need for more world-class educators to successfully implement proposed K+12 reforms and enhance the country's educational system, citing worrisome downtrends in the number of graduates of education-related courses.

Figures released by the National Statistical Coordinating Board (NSCB) show that the number of graduates of Education Science and Teacher Training has declined over the past decade--from 71,349 in AY 2000-2001 to 56,209 in AY 2009-2010.

"We cannot afford to forget our teachers, amidst all the changes that are about to take place. They will be at the forefront of our efforts to reform education, so we must do everything we can to prepare and support them," said Angara, Chair of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture.

According to the Department of Education (DepEd), there are about 510,629 teachers in the country, but around 99,628 more are needed.

Recently, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and the Board for Professional Teachers (BPT) announced that only 13,925 elementary teachers out of 32,798 examinees (42.46 percent) and only 7,149 secondary teachers out of 28,764 examinees (24.85 percent) passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers (L.E.T.) for 2012.

"These percentages do not sit well with the national drive for global competitiveness and are a clear sign that a lot more needs to be done to educate our educators. Within the next decade, we must invest more time and effort to training our teachers," stressed Angara, who is a former UP President.

The veteran lawmaker noted that around P100 million in the 2012 budget of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has been earmarked for scholarships in teacher development.

"This is a good step, but for sure, more will have to be done to catalyze the reform process towards raising the bar of our teaching standards," emphasized Angara. "More of our resources--such as ICT and social media--can be directed towards creating a national network where teachers can help train other teachers, share their experiences in implementing K+12, and receive input from education experts in other countries."

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