Congress to regulate review centers

MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives will most likely regulate review centers in the wake of at least two incidents of leakages of questions in professional licensure examinations in recent years.

Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, who chairs the committee on higher and technical education, said there is a consensus in his panel in favor of endorsing his Bill 3187.

The bill authorizes the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to regulate the establishment and operation of review centers and similar institutions intended to refresh and enhance the knowledge or competencies and skills of students and graduates.

Angara, a Harvard-trained lawyer, said there is no law at present that regulates review centers, which are free to formulate their review programs.

There is thus no way of determining whether such programs actually enhance the knowledge and competencies of those enrolling in these centers and whether such centers are operated solely for profit, he said.

Angara’s proposal was prompted by the reported leakage of questions in the US National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) involving Manila-based St. Louis Review Center, which conducts reviews for PT, nursing and medical graduates.

Because of the leak, US licensing authorities banned last July 12 Filipino PTs from taking the NPTE for one year. Last September, they announced that Filipino PTs seeking to practice in the US could take a special exam on May 25 and Dec. 5 next year.

Angara’s committee has asked owners of St. Louis Review Center to shed light on their alleged involvement in the leakage and how test questions were obtained and circulated without the consent of US licensing authorities.

Angara said another case was the leakage of at least 500 questions in the 2006 nursing examinations involving certain review centers.

He said the Professional Regulations Commission admitted the leakage and traced it to two members of its Board of Nursing.

Then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo later ordered examinees to retake the nursing exam, he said.

He added that in the wake of the irregularity, Arroyo issued Executive Order 566 authorizing CHED to regulate review centers.

However, the Supreme Court declared the executive order as unconstitutional since under Republic Act 7722, the law creating CHED, the commission’s authority is limited to public and private institutions of higher education.

The court ruled that review centers are not institutions of higher learning and are outside the authority of CHED.

“There is thus a pressing need to regulate review centers to protect the public against substandard programs and unethical practices of these business establishments,” Angara said.