DepEd: Participate in teacher curriculum revision

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) is calling on teachers and other education stakeholders to participate in the revision of the teacher education curriculum, which seeks to improve teacher quality in the country amid the education crisis.

“Pursuant to its mandate of promoting quality basic education, the DepEd supports the pre-service teacher education through experiential learning. Additionally, the DepEd directly benefits from the teacher education institutions as its graduates comprise the teaching workforce in basic education,” the DepEd said in a statement over the weekend.

It called on teachers and other stakeholders to chime in with the ongoing revision of teacher training in colleges and universities to aid the Teacher Education Council (TEC), of which Education Secretary Sonny Angara is an ex-officio chairman of, in redesigning the pre-service teacher education curriculum.

The agency posted a link of a national survey on its Facebook page where inputs could be sent to the TEC.

“The DepEd fully supports the council’s initiative to review and redesign the pre-service teacher education curriculum. The responses gathered from this survey will provide valuable input for the Council’s ongoing curriculum review efforts,” it said.

The TEC is expected to present the new teacher education curriculum by December.

In its Year One report, the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) highlighted the urgency of addressing teacher training issues, noting how many teachers who took a content-test based on the curriculum were only able to answer basic-level questions.

Asked to perform more complex tasks requiring two or three steps, most were unable to respond effectively, according to the EDCOM 2.

A recent study by business-led education group Philippine Business for Education revealed that more than half of the teacher training schools in the country have consistently underperformed in the Board Licensure Exam for Professional Teachers (BLEPT) from 2010 to 2022, with passing rates below the national average.

Earlier this year, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) vowed to shut down teacher training schools that have consistently underperformed and disregarded prescribed minimum standards.

The CHED also revised its policies on assessing the schools’ board exam performance, which now merits an immediate closure order for programs that have been found consistently underperforming in the BLEPT and non-compliant with the minimum standards set by the commission.