Teacher performance in board exams worsening

MANILA, Philippines — The performance of teacher education institutions (TEIs) in the country continues to worsen based on the results of the most recent board examinations for teachers, according to the Philippine Business for Education.

PBEd, a private sector-led organization advocating for quality education in the country, released Tuesday the results of its research on the performance of TEIs in the licensure examinations for teachers (LET) since 2009. 

“Teacher education (in the Philippines) is as popular as ever,” PBEd said in a statement. “LET performance, however, has been dismal.”

The average passing rate of graduates of teacher education courses since 2009 is only 31 percent, lower than those from medicine (58 percent), the sciences (54 percent), maritime (51 percent), engineering (45 percent), accountancy (38 percent) and agriculture (36 percent) courses.

PBEd cited figures in the latest LET in March, which logged a passing rate of 11 percent for elementary school teachers and 26 percent for secondary. This is lower than the average passing rate of 27 percent for elementary and 33 percent for secondary since 2009. 

At least half of colleges and universities with teacher education programs for elementary (1,024) and secondary (1,258) perform below the average national passing rate, PBEd said. 

The organization thus called for longer-term solutions in teacher development in the country, such as stricter admissions and development of a portfolio-based training and certification to build the competencies and expertise of teachers. 

“We see it as symptomatic of a much bigger problem of teacher quality in the country,” PBEd president Chito Salazar said of the research data. 

“The exam itself needs to be reformed. We must open it up to validity testing and item analysis, involve TEIs in test development, and revive the three-strike rule for takers,” PBEd research director Dylan Dellosa added. 

Best, worst schools

PBEd also released the best and worst performing schools in terms of teacher education, also citing board exam results since 2009. 

The top performing schools for elementary education are the Philippine Normal Univeristy (PNU) in Manila, University of Santo Tomas (UST), Xavier University, University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Bohol Island State University and De La Salle University (DLSU) in Manila.

For secondary education, named best performing schools are PNU-Manila, UST, UP Diliman, UP Los Baños and DLSU-Manila. 

Meanwhile, PBEd called on government institutions to look into the performance of at least 22 higher education institutions (HEIs), mostly in Mindanao, that logged an average passing rate of 20 percent or below since 2009. 

For elementary education, the identified HEIs are the Marawi Capitol Foundation College Marawi Islamic College, Mindanao Islamic Computer College, Pacasum College, Gani L. Abpi Colleges Inc., Lapak Agricultural College-Siasi, South UPI College, Southern Negros College, La Consolacion College-Daet and Camarines Norte State College-Labo. 

Those listed in the worst performing TEIs in secondary education are Hadji Butu School of Arts and Trades, Lanao National College of Arts and Trades, Tawi-Tawi Regional Agricultural College, Lapak Agricultural College-Siasi, Jamiatu Muslim Mindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan College, Libacao College of Science and Tech, Datu Mala M. Mindanao Islamic College and Southwestern Mindanao Islamic Institute. 

Also included are the Unda Memorial Agricultural School, East Pacific Computer College, Cali Paramedical College Foundation, Shepherd’s College, Romblon State College-Sta. Maria, Agro-industrial Foundation College, La Consolacion College-Biñan and Southway College of Technology.