Villanueva asks PRC: Allow third-party experts to determine alignment of teacher education curriculum, LET to improve passing rate of teachers

Allowing experts from partner agencies and institutions to look into the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) would "strike at the heart" of the alleged mismatch between the LET, the professional standards for teachers of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the teachers' education curriculum itself, Senator Joel Villanueva said Thursday.

The review of the LET questions and its corresponding item analysis of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) should allow third-party experts to determine how to improve the alignment of the teacher education curriculum and its related licensure examination, Villanueva explained.

"Eventually, kung masasabi ng CHED Technical Panel, ng PNU, ng UP, ng PBED, o ng isang third-party audit na 'matched' naman pala sa curriculum at aligned naman nga pala sa PPST (Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers) ang LET, then we are finally hitting at the heart of the issue ng pagkatagal-tagal nang 'alleged mismatch' ng LET sa curriculum at standards ng DepEd, which is now the PPST," said Villanueva, chair of the Senate higher education committee.

The lawmaker, who conducted the public inquiry alongside the Senate basic education committee chair Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, lamented the dismal passing rate of aspiring teachers in the LET, which already indicates the necessity for a thorough review.

Villanueva said the average passing rate stood at about 30 percent over an 11-year period, and upon closer scrutiny of the recent September 2019 LET, a total of 445 schools had a zero-passing rate.

"With all due respect, we want to be realistic, unbiased, and to look at the whole picture. Hindi po okay ang 30% passing rate kasi more than 100,000 naman ang pumapasa taon-taon. In 2019, out of 386,840 examinees, 147,353 passed the LET, while 239,487 examinees failed," he said.

"Imagine the government resources and the hard-earned money that our kababayans spend to train these teachers and to pay for their tuition fees. Magkano po ang ginastos ng gobyerno to administer an exam for 386,000 LET examinees?" he added.

Villanueva lamented the lack of coordination in the Teachers Education Council (TEC), pointing out that in their professionalization journey, teachers usually have to go through different agencies including the CHED, PRC, and DepEd, which all follow different standards for their professional development.

"So, the crux of the matter here is that we want to look into the LET because this will give us the directional arrow for the structure of TEC and the elements of coordination na ilalagay natin sa batas. Looking into the LET will strike at the heart of the issue ng alleged mismatch ng LET sa curriculum at standards ng DepEd. It will ensure na this time, talagang may mangyayari po sa Teacher Education Council," he said.