Sen. Joel Villanueva. (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Joel Villanueva is pushing for a thorough review of the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET), lamenting that the low passing rate at 30 percent every year is never okay.
The chairman of the Senate committee on higher education noted that the average LET passing rate stood at about 30 percent over an 11-year period and upon closer scrutiny of last year’s test showed that a total of 445 schools had a zero-passing rate.
And out of the 386,840 examinees, Villanueva said only 147,353 passed the test while 239,487 examinees failed.
“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,” 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?” the senator added.
Villanueva lamented the lack of coordination in the Teachers Education Council (TEC) as teachers usually have to go through various agencies including the Commission on Higher Education, the Professional Regulation Commission, and Department of Education (DepEd) with 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,” he pointed out.
“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.”
Villanueva proposed that a “third-party” of experts be allowed to participate in the review to address the alleged mismatched between the LET, DepEd’s professional standards for teachers, and the teachers’ education curriculum itself.
On Thursday, Villanueva’s panel and the basic education committee chaired by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian jointly held a hearing on a bill that seeks to improve teacher education in the country.