COA flags Nueva Ecija LGU for hiring unlicensed teachers

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the provincial government of Nueva Ecija for hiring teachers who did not pass the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) and did not undergo screening by the Provincial Local School Board (PLSB).

In its 2021 annual audit report, the COA said only 45 of the 110 teachers hired were LET passers while only nine were listed in the Department of Education (DepEd)’s Registry of Qualified Applicants (RQA) for schoolyear 2020-2021.

The COA said this contravened a joint circular of the DepEd, Department of Budget and Management and Department of the Interior and Local Government, which states that local school boards should utilize the list found in the RQA.

The COA also cited the operations manual of the Nueva Ecija LSB, which states that only LET passers are allowed to become public school teachers.

”Though there were exemptions in hiring non-LET passers to be assigned in remote areas of the province, the LSB could not provide proof that the offer was made to the enlisted names in the RQA and they declined or waived the teaching opportunity,” the audit report read.

The COA said the PLSB point person admitted that the hiring of the non-LET passers was a discretion of the district supervisor and did not pass screening by the board.

The audit agency said the hiring of the non-LET passers deprived teaching opportunities to those who are more qualified, adding that it might compromise the quality of education in public schools in the province.

In a written reply, the provincial government admitted that its PLSB “may have overlooked” the prescribed qualification standards and procedures in the hiring of teachers for the schoolyear.

The PLSB committed to ”revisit” the screening and selection procedures to fully comply with qualification and procedural parameters in applicable guidelines.