In a move to help solve long-standing issues of low passing rates and mismatched curriculum, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. witnessed the signing of a joint memorandum circular between the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). The new directive seeks to align teacher education programs with the licensure examination for professional teachers.
The memorandum presents different licensure examinations suited for the different programs such that they reflect the CHED's new programs, standards, and guidelines. This is for the purpose of a better appraisal of the required competencies as used in classrooms nowadays.
For elementary, the tests will focus on two main specializations: early childhood education and special needs education. For secondary, specializations will be English, Filipino, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Values Education, Technology and Livelihood Education, Technical-Vocational Teacher Education, Physical Education, and Culture and Arts Education.
Signed by CHED Chair Prospero de Vera and PRC Chair Charito Zamora during a ceremony at Malacañang, the project was praised by President Marcos, who underscored its significance in harmonizing the education sector's standards with the actual teaching requirements.
"By harmonizing our systems, the licensure exam now mirrors the competencies that teachers actually require—whether in early childhood, special education, or the wide range of subjects in high school", Marcos stated.
The reform follows findings from the Second Congressional Commission on Education, which linked low teacher board exam passing rates to the disconnect between CHED’s curriculum and PRC’s assessment structure.
