Only a small percentage pass exam for teachers

Only a small percentage pass the licensure examinations for teachers in the elementary and high school levels despite the high number of graduates of teacher training courses produced by the tertiary schools.

Carl Marc Ramota, Kabataan Party vice president, urged the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) yesterday to focus more on courses which serve the needs of the economy rather than the demands of the international market.

Citing data from the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), Ramota said only 18,517 out of 67,333 examinees for teachers in the elementary level, or a measly 27.5 percent, passed the 2005 Licensure Examinations for Teachers (LET), and only 15,945 out of 61,576 examinees, or 25.9 percent, passed the test in the secondary level.

"The poor performance of our graduates in professional examinations is reflective of the dismal state of our educational system," Ramota said. "Education should be a priority of the state but under the present administration and even its predecessors, it does not draw even an ounce of sympathy from the authorities."

Ramota said the country actually produces enough professionals, particularly in education, but a majority fail to pass the licensure exams due to raw training and poor quality of education.

"Every school year, more than 400,000 college hopefuls aspire to become teachers. Practically almost all tertiary institutions in the country offer a degree in education. Yet the country lacks roughly some 50,000 teachers," he said.

"Only a fraction of the thousands who flock to education courses are able to attain their dream profession. Specifically, only a little more than a 100,000 education students reach the fourth year... and only a few pass the licensure exams," he added.

Ramota also deplored that too much emphasis is given to nursing, caregiving, medical transcription and other courses geared toward jobs at call centers, which does more harm than good to the local economy.

"The government’s thrust of producing more professionals and skilled graduates in the said fields at the expense of other vital courses creates a disturbing imbalance in the education sector and the labor force and further encourages the migration of professionals to other countries," Ramota said.

He stressed that while remittances from overseas workers in these fields help the local economy, the long-term effects of an unbalanced pool of professionals and a continuous brain drain could be devastating to the country.

He said the government should focus more on producing more teachers, entrepreneurs and agriculturists and invest heavily in educational reforms.

"Our government should put more emphasis on courses which correspond with the needs of the local economy instead of banking on ‘popular’ courses determined by prevailing international trends," he said.

On the other hand, while nursing and other health-related professions are more popular nowadays, Ramota said the bulk of college entrants this year will go to business courses and teacher education.

According to CHED, some 629,933 students are enrolled in business administration and related courses. Other top choices for college hopefuls are education and teacher training (428,555), engineering and technology (354,173), information technology (265,493), and medical and allied courses (225,922).