MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) on Tuesday, June 11, urged Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte to set up the Teacher Education Council (TEC) to enhance teaching quality in the Philippines.

Play Video

Under Republic Act No.  11713 or the Excellence in Teacher Education Act, the education secretary is the chairperson of the TEC, which is tasked set and mandate basic requirements for teachers’ education programs. The law also requires the TEC to formulate a strategic plan to proactively enhance the quality of teaching in the Philippines.

“We cannot afford any more delay in this matter. We are dealing with a crisis and we urge the Secretary of Education, as the chairperson of the TEC, to promptly appoint an executive director and other officials for the benefit of aspiring teachers, eventually translating into improvements for our learners in basic education,” PBEd Executive Director Justine Raagas said.

The law was signed in 2022 during the time of then president Rodrigo Duterte to address the perennial crisis hounding the Philippine education system.

According to a World Bank study in 2016, the knowledge of teachers and the method they use to teach a subject were “important determinants of student learning outcomes in the Philippines.” The study showed that “knowledge of subject matter among elementary and high school teachers is low in most subjects.”

For instance, the World Bank study revealed that a mathematics teacher in high school was only able to answer 31% of the questions “completely correctly,” far from even half of the questions.

“Since the tests are closely aligned with the curriculum, the results suggest that teachers face significant challenges in teaching a considerable portion of the current K to 12 curriculum,” the study said.

Must Read

Why Filipino students performed poorly in global learning assessments

“It has been two years since the law was signed and a year since implementing rules and regulations has been published. The enhancements proposed in the law have not been fully realized because officials have yet to be appointed to start the necessary work,” Raagas said.

“The policy is already here. Any further delay in its full enforcement is causing our learners to miss out. While we acknowledge the efforts of the administration to support our teachers, operationalizing the TEC is also a necessary step towards realizing the improvement of teacher education in the country,” she added. – Rappler.com