MANILA, Philippines – An official from the Department of Education said that one of the reasons for the low passing rate of Licensure Exam for Teachers (LET) is because those who are drawn to the professions are "not the best and the brightest."
During Thursday’s hearing of the Senate Committee on Education, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the committee repeatedly asked for the possible reasons for the constant decline of LET passing rate almost every year.
Gatchalian reminded that it is the DepEd council's responsibility to craft policies and standards to improve the quality of teacher education.
Runvi Manguerra, executive director of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Teacher Education Council, first answer to Gatchalian was the "very low” percentage of centers of excellence and centers of development in the country which he said was only about 5 percent.
Manguerra's next reason focused on the "quality" of students who were taking up a degree in Education.
He went on to talk about "the kind of students that we have in the college of education."
According to Manguerra, as per records there are only "few good students" taking up education.
“We keep on saying that we have to recruit the best and the brightest among our senior high school students but record shows that those who are attracted to the Teacher Education Institutions are not the best and the brightest,” Manguerra said.
To solve the problem, Manguerra suggested that the council create an organization that will develop the teaching profession as early as senior high school. Through this, more students would be inclined for teacher education.
When Gatchalian asked if this would serve as a “separate qualifier” for education students, Manguerra answered in the affirmative.
However, Manguerra clarified that this is still a proposal as they have yet to discuss this with the Commission on Higher Education.
— Sally, The Summit Express
During Thursday’s hearing of the Senate Committee on Education, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the committee repeatedly asked for the possible reasons for the constant decline of LET passing rate almost every year.
Gatchalian reminded that it is the DepEd council's responsibility to craft policies and standards to improve the quality of teacher education.
Runvi Manguerra, executive director of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Teacher Education Council, first answer to Gatchalian was the "very low” percentage of centers of excellence and centers of development in the country which he said was only about 5 percent.
Manguerra's next reason focused on the "quality" of students who were taking up a degree in Education.
He went on to talk about "the kind of students that we have in the college of education."
According to Manguerra, as per records there are only "few good students" taking up education.
“We keep on saying that we have to recruit the best and the brightest among our senior high school students but record shows that those who are attracted to the Teacher Education Institutions are not the best and the brightest,” Manguerra said.
To solve the problem, Manguerra suggested that the council create an organization that will develop the teaching profession as early as senior high school. Through this, more students would be inclined for teacher education.
When Gatchalian asked if this would serve as a “separate qualifier” for education students, Manguerra answered in the affirmative.
However, Manguerra clarified that this is still a proposal as they have yet to discuss this with the Commission on Higher Education.
— Sally, The Summit Express
