PRC exec: ‘Open enrollment’ behind low LET passing rate among teachers; CHED disagrees

The lack of strict admission rules for aspiring teachers is one of the reasons behind the low passing rate among education graduates who take the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) in the Philippines, an official from the Professional Regulation Commission on Monday.

During a Senate committee on basic education hearing on quality of teacher education and training, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian asked why only an average of 30% and 48% of elementary and secondary education graduates who take the LET have passed in recent years.

"This is the result of open enrollment. There is no selective enrollment for the course, there is no selective retention. They all are enrolled and they all pass. Why? because that is the demand of the parents, the demand of the community and also the need of schools," PRC Board for Professional Teachers chairperson Dr. Rosita Navarro said.

"Many universities and colleges require a certain high school average for entry in such courses as engineering, science, maybe arts but no average for those who want to enter education. Anybody, kahit 75 ang kaniyang average, tinatanggap pa rin," she added.

Further, Navarro said there is no selective retention to screen those who are worthy of being allowed to pursue the program until the graduating year, thus compromising the performance results in the LET.

"How can a graduate of a 75% grade in high school and continued to finish the course score high in the examination?" she asked.

CHED disagrees

Commission on Higher Education chairperson Prospero De Vera III disagreed with Navarro.

"I find that unacceptable on the part of the Commission because we are assuming that a student, when he enters a higher education institution, will not improve anymore through the four years that they go through a teacher training program," he said during the same hearing.

"I think if that is our conclusion, then we conclude that universities are not doing anything," he added.

De Vera said empirical studies must be conducted first before arriving at such a conclusion and that equally important to look into is what happens to the education students while inside the university.

Further, he clarified that aspiring teachers are admitted in higher education institutions not based on their high school grades but on the results of the admission exams they are required to take.

"What happens after that are now governed by individual policies of universities. Some universities have higher requirements on teacher education, depending on the slots available in teacher education," De Vera said.

The Senate committee requested the CHED to submit a report on admission rules that are currently being practiced by state universities and colleges to determine if there is room for improvement that may be included in the policy direction. — BM, GMA News