CONFERENCE ADDRESS

by

DR. NILO L. ROSAS

Commissioner, Professional Regulation
Commission

“STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING TEACHER

EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES”

CHED Function Rm., Ground Fl, HEDC Building,

CP Garcia Avenue, UP Diliman, Quezon City
December 15, 2009

1. INTRODUCTION
Mga kasamahan, kaagapay, kabalikat,
kapamilya, kapuso, kapatid sa ngalan ng
edukasyon, isang maganda at mapagpalang
umaga sa inyong lahat. I am honored and
privileged to join you today. I congratulate the
CHED, particularly Commissioner Nenalyn P.
Defensor, for her initiative in holding this
momentous undertaking by which we,
educators, are gathered together to quote
unquote “Save the Normal Schools in the
Philippines.”

In this conference, I am tasked to speak about

the “Strategies for Improving Teacher
Education in the Philippines.” As a product
and a producer of a Normal Institution, this
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topic is close – and actually holds special
significance- to my heart. Thus, despite a busy
schedule at work, this opportunity to give my
one cent worth on the topic before the
Presidents and Deans of Colleges Education of
the Centers of Excellence and Centers of
Development in Teacher Education and notable
educators coming from state universities and
colleges, is something I indeed relish.

Of course, there are a myriad of educators out

there who would likewise state their strong
opinions about this topic, and I cannot help but
wonder why the Honorable Nenalyn Defensor,
singled me out for this Forum.

As some of you may be well aware,

Commissioner Defensor and I shared a
wonderful history together, one for the books
so to speak. She was at one time my student
at PWU in her doctoral studies and she was the
one of the best, if not perhaps the best,
students I’ve ever had. Then, as the wheel of
fate turned, I became under her at the UP
College of Education as a part-time faculty
when I retired from DECS and she as
Chairperson of the Educational Administration
Department, making her my boss, then. As the
twist of fate would have it, the wheel for us

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again turned, I became the President of PNU,
where she, representing the CHED Chairman,
became the Chairman of the Board of Regents
of PNU. Ika nga, ang buhay nga naman, gaya
ng mundo, ay bilog. Kung minsan ika’y nasa
itaas, kung minsan nama’y nasa ibaba.” At
this point, the wheel that joined us is in
equilibrium, herself now as the Honorable
CHED Commissioner, and myself, as PRC
Commissioner. Of course, we are serving two
completely different agencies of the National
Government, but somehow forged and shared
by a common vision of Education. One would
wonder how the wheel would turn for us again.

Coincidence, perhaps? The other possible

reason is that we are both products of former
Teacher Education Institutions which were
formerly normal schools: myself hailing from
the Philippine Normal College which is now the
PNU, and herself from the Iloilo Normal
Schools, which is now the West Visayas State
University or WVSU.

However fate would play its trick on us, we will

always be, as we have always been,
maintaining a collegial relationship, where we
are both fellow learners.

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2. INTROSPECTION

Moving forward to the topic assigned to me,

allow me to quote a well-renowed Czech writer
in the name of Vaclav Havel, who stated that
“Every Education is a Kind of Inward Journey,”
I deem it appropriate to talk about Normal
Schools culling out some nuggets of thoughts
and wisdom derived from my own experiences.
As a disclaimer, please do not misconstrue this
as bragging, neither be labeled as “antique”,
although I must tell you, I am getting there,
bordering in antiquity, having recently
acquired a “dual citizenship”: a Filipino
citizenship and … a senior citizenship.

The personal experiences I shall be divulging

with you about are the experiences I have
gained:

1) as a student of teacher education at the

Philippine Normal College where I took
up BSEEd in 1962 to 1966;

2) a consumer of teachers when I was DECS-

NCR regional director and as
Undersecretary;

4
 3) as a producer of teachers when I was
president of PNU and faculty of Baguio
Vocational Normal School and professor
of several graduate schools; and

4) as a quality assurance manager and

standard setter when I was a Director of
the Bureau of Higher Education which is
now the CHED, when we set the Policies
and Standards for Teacher Education in
1986; and as a Chairman of the Board of
Professional Teacher of the PRC from
1995 to 1998, and now as the
Commissioner of PRC.

Make no mistake about it, what I will be stating

is nothing new, nothing you never had heard
before, because the problems are there from
the very start already, and the solution and
recommendations, although have been harped
at constantly, are yet to be fully implemented
and materialized.

My presentation this morning will be divided

into several parts, namely:

PART 1: Saving the Normal School, the

Concept of a Normal School, its
definition, ;

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 PART 2:Global and Local Actualities and
Specific issues in teacher education

PART 3: Strategies for Improving

Teacher Education

PART 4. Reforms in Teacher Education

in the Philippines:
1. The Presidential Task
Force on Education
2. The Teacher Education and
Development Program; and
3. The National Competency-
Based Teacher Standards

PART 5: Updates on PRC and the

Licensure Examination for Teachers

PART 6: Concluding Statement

PART 1. SAVING THE NORMAL SCHOOLS

Before we go on any further in saving the

normal schools, it is important that we
understand the concept of a Normal School,
and why Normal?

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The phrase normal school originated from the
French ecole normal in which enrolment was
limited only to the cerebral few. The concept
was eventually borrowed by the English
academicians, then the American who brought
it to the Philippines.

The Philippine Normal School (PNS) was the

first normal school established in September 1,
1901 by the then superintendent of schools for
the Philippine Archipelago by the name of
Captain Albert Todd who recommended to
William Howard Taft, the first civil governor of
the Philippines that a Department of
Instruction be established with the Philippine
Normal School under its wings. With the
passage of Act. No. 74 of the Second Philippine
Commission, PNS became autonomous, more
than ready “for the education of the natives of
the islands in the science of teaching.”

Other normal schools opened in the Philippines

later; namely: the Ilocos Normal School, the
Albay Provincial Normal School, the Iloilo
Normal Schook, the Cebu Normal School, the
Zamboanga Normal School, the Bayambang
Normal School, the Leyte Normal School; and
the Bukidnon Normal School.

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Notably, the Thomasites who came to the
Philippines in 1901 to teach at the PNS and in
some parts of the Philippines were mainly
normal school graduates from the United
States.

Oral accounts from some prominent people

whose parents graduated from the normal
school point to rigid but rewarding experiences
they had in the institutions. All shared
memorable insights into their 2-year or 4-year
study. Speaking in Filipino or in any language
or dialect other than English was taboo, if not
fined (this was understandable since the
imposition of a foreign language implied
politicalization or subjugation); co-curricular
activities like debates, acting, singing, and
sports were mandatory to balance the
academic life of students; and adhering the
dress code was followed to give dignity to the
teaching profession.

It is no exaggeration to say that many of past

and current legislators and key officials of the
country had parents or relatives who were
normal school graduates. For example, in
PNS/PNC, graduates include Superintendent
Antonio Maceda, the father of former Senator
Ernesto Maceda. The father of Senator

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Santanina Rasul, the mother of President
Corazon Aquino, the Mother of Chief Justice
Marcelo Fernan, and the mother of President
Fidel Ramos and Senator Leticia Ramos-
Shahani. Even President Ferdinand Marcos’
parents, Mariano Marcos and Josefa Edralin,
were classmates at the PNS. Same with the
mother of Former First Lady Ming Ramos, Ms.
Josefa Martinez, parents of Ms. Helena Benitez,
Mr. Conrado Benitez and Ms. Francisca Tirona,
to name a few. All of them take pride in the
normal school education, in the rigid discipline,
the unrelenting pursuit for excellence, and the
unflagging commitment to public or private
work.

THE CURRICULUM

Compared to the present curriculum, the old

programs of study included the following
courses: from the freshman to sophomore
years – oral expression, arithmetic, elementary
geography, Philippine history, physiology,
hygiene, and nature study; junior year –
algebra, political and commercial geography,
general history, botany and physics; and senior
year – geometry, US History and civics,
ecology, chemistry and observation.

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In 1903, the length of the teaching program
was four years, so that to be admitted, an
applicant had to be at least 14 years old and a
graduate of the intermediate group or level. In
SY 1905-1906, a training school was put up and
education was introduced in the third year. To
bridge the gap between theory and practice,
practice teaching was held in the preparatory
classes directed by a critic teacher and
supplemented by a general course in
education. From 1911 to 1916, the PNS
offered four types of curricula above the
curricula level: the four-year regular normal,
the special 2-year domestic science, and a one-
year course (made a 2-year course in 1920)
which was introduced for supervising teachers
and principals.

EFFECTS OF THE MONROE SURVEY

Authorized by Acts No. 3162 and 319*6, Dr.

Paul Monroe chaired the first comprehensive
survey of the Philippine Educational System in
1925. Its salient findings revealed, among
other things, that: 1) 95% of the teachers
lacked professional training; and 2) teachers
received ineffective instruction and
supervision. Data of the survey were gathered
by testing 3,200 pupils and more than 1,000

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teachers, interviews, observations, and
examinations of school children records and of
the school.

The impact of these findings on the different

normal school was made manifest by:

1) requiring four years of training beyond the

completion of the 7th grade;
2) making training strictly professional in
character;
3) offering training only to selected
students;
4) staffing the normal school largely be
American teachers to carry out successfully
the English program; and
5) providing adequate facilities for
observation and practice teaching.

In the 1950s to the 60s, the different normal

schools started having practicing students –
interns undergo off-campus training in their
hometown or barrios. The Department of
Student Teaching supervised this activity. The
concept of community block entailed having
the students go to barrio schools all over the
country for a week, accompanied by their
professors, to observe classes so as to
operationalize or contextualize the state-of-

11
the-art teaching with the conditions obtaining
at the grassroots. Hence the immersion in the
harsher realities in the field was much earlier
than before.

Integration was the buzzword in elementary

schools in the 1950s to the next decade. This
teaching trend or educational concept enabled
teachers and students to integrate lessons in
the major and minor areas – from English,
match, science, and social studies, to the arts,
music and PE, even work education to enable
students to learn the totality of things, rather
than compartmentalize them. In the summer
of 1953, at PNC for example, more than 2,000
teachers all over the country attended
demonstration lessons in integration. Notably,
the demand of integration – more masterful
teachers at home in various skills, intense
preparations, not to mention availability of
books and other teaching paraphernalia –
attracted a number of practitioners, but raised
the eyebrows of doubting Thomases,
supervisors, and teachers themselves,
especially in barrio schools where ill-prepared
teachers and the paucity of teaching materials
posed perennial problems.

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PART 2. ACTUALITIES OF TEACHER EDUCATION
(LOCAL AND GLOBAL)

In a book aptly entitled School, Society and the

Professional Educator, Frank H. Blakington III
of Michigan State University and Robert S.
Patterson of the University of Alberta, assert
that “no other profession involves its members
so closely with the community in which
practice is performed as does teaching.”
“Physicians treat individual patients, lawyers
counsel clients, ministers or priests or pastors
save their own congregations, engineers deal
with material projects, architects design
buildings, and social workers investigate
selected cases. Teachers, in contrast,
particularly those in the public schools, in
addition to instructing the children assigned to
their care, must work with practically the
whole community.”

So vital is the work of the teachers in the total

community that schools are often blamed for a
variety of inadequacies that may from time to
time become apparent in communities.
Rarely, to illustrate the point further, would a
community blame the medical profession for
an epidemic, nor would the heavy traffic toll be
charged to engineers, poor laws to lawyers,

13
slums to architects, or juvenile delinquency to
social workers. Yet people do not hesitate to
condemn schools and teachers when young
people and the adults fail to exhibit mature
patterns of behavior, when results of the
ASEAN competitive examinations in math and
science fall below national expectations, or
when materialism, rather than human and
moral concerns, tends to dominate interests of
people.

This observation finds support in the EDCOM

Report which posited that the teacher’s far
reaching influence as an agent of constructive
change in society is beyond question, so that
any policy or programs the government adopts
must necessarily depend on the educational
system and the nation at large.

On a wider horizon, a study of Teacher

Education Reform collaboratively undertaken
by educators from five ASEAN countries
(Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia
and Thailand) acknowledged that teachers in
their respective countries are expected to
perform multiple roles.

Among others, they are looked up to as agents

of social change, resource persons and

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consultants, role models, custodians, arbiters,
professionals, and parents. As such, they are
expected to provide leadership in community
projects, organize education programs for the
community, and disseminate to the same
community.

No wonder the teacher gets blamed for every

misdemeanor an elementary school or college
graduate, or even an out-of-school youth,
commits, or for some event the community
fails to celebrate. Indeed, depending on how
well one plays his/her part, the teacher could
make or unmake a person or even a nation.

From the foregoing observations, it is obvious

that teachers play a paramount role in national
development.

SHOW/FLASH ON THE SCREEN POEM ENTITLED:

“PRETTY GOOD”

PART 3. STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING TEACHER

EDUCATION

Which leads me to the heart of the topic of this

paper, which is to provide some strategies in
improving teacher education in the Philippines.

15
I must say that this conference is doubly
significant in such a way that it deals on a
topic most often if not always, singled out as a
critical factor in the educational system: the
human capital or the teacher, and that the
specific topic assigned to me speaks of a
response for a continuing update on teacher
education, cognizant of the ever imminent
obsolescence of knowledge that happens in so
short a time brought about by the information
revolution characteristic of the 21st century.

The convocation takes as its starting point the

view that teachers have a key role to play in
contributing to educational development and
improvement. This would appear to be a self
evident truism since there is little doubt from
available evidence that this is clearly the case.

It is therefore essential that we recruit the

most capable and appropriate people into the
teaching profession, provide them with a high
quality, competency-based pre-service
program of teacher education, and then ensure
they have opportunities to upgrade their
knowledge and skills over the full length of
their professional career. To attract and then
keep the most able people in the teaching
service requires us to pay great attention to

16
such matters as finding ways to increase the
status of teachers, and to providing reward
structures and career and promotion
pathways, which reflect the important role
teachers play in an effective education system.

If we accept that the quality of any education

system ultimately depends upon the quality of
teachers, and that “no country can rise above
the level of its teachers”, then the matter of
teacher development is one which deserves
our urgent, careful and continued attention.

And to paraphrase the late Dr. Vic Ordonez of

UNESCO, the demands of the present and the
future cannot be taught with tools of the past.
Indeed, there is the urgency to be sensitive to
the needs of the times and use the
corresponding appropriate tools in coping with
such.

Not a few lament the “deterioration” of

education in the country. Education scholars
as well as laymen - each has something to say,
and most often if not always, the claim is: the
teacher is one major “culprit’ for the poor
performance of students. In In The Philippine
Star of December 10, 2009 , Babe Romualdez
has this to say: “…The quality of education in

17
this country has been deteriorating over the
years especially with many of our good
teachers leaving for better paying jobs
abroad…” ILO/UNESCO in its
Recommendations Concerning the Status of
Teachers calls our attention on how teaching
should be viewed. Quoted by Gu-Ming Yuan
(2005) ILO/UNESCO in its recommendations
states , that “…teaching should be regarded
as a profession; it is a form of public service
which requires of teachers expert knowledge
and specialized skills required and maintained
through rigorous and continuing study. “

In the same breath, only just recently, in a

budget hearing for my agency which I
represented in the Senate, Senator Ed Angara
struck me with a question of how come the
statistics in licensure examination for teachers
leave much to be desired. This leaves me
dumbfounded, by which I could only muster
that the quality is very much dependent on the
output.

LET ME NOW DIRECT YOUR ATTENTION TO THE

SCREEN SHOWING IN GRAPHICAL
REPRESENTATION OF THE STATISTICS OF THE
LICENSURE EXAMINATION FOR THE

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ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY TEACHERS
FROM 2004 UP TO PRESENT, 2009.

National Performance for the Licensure

Examination for
TEACHE
RS
from 2004 -2009

ELEMENTARY LEVEL
Calendar Examine Percenta
Year es Passers ge
16,2
CY 2004 60,470 97 26.95%
18,5
CY 2005 67,216 17 27.55%
17,3
CY 2006 59,355 77 29.28%
18,3
CY 2007 66,706 76 27.55%
22,6
CY 2008 76,854 91 29.52%
15,5
CY 2009 67,183 15 23.09%

ELEM ENTARY (2004-2009)

15,515
CY 2009 67,183

22,691
CY 2008 76,854

18,376
CY 2007 66,706
Passers
17,377
CY 2006 59,355 Examinees

18,517
CY 2005 67,216

16,297
CY 2004 60,470

- 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000

National Performance for the Licensure

Examination for

19
 TEACH
ERS
from 2004 - 2009

SECONDARY LEVEL
Calendar Examin Pass Percent
Year ees ers age
58,4 15,
CY 2004 15 860 27.15%
61,5 15,
CY 2005 04 945 25.93%
53,2 17,
CY 2006 60 290 32.46%
57,7 16,
CY 2007 22 811 29.12%
67,9 22,
CY 2008 61 506 33.12%
62,2 16,
CY 2009 39 706 26.84%

SECONDARY (2004-2009)

16,706
CY 2009 62,239

22,506
CY 2008 67,961

16,811
CY 2007 57,722
Passers
17,290
CY 2006 53,260 Examinees

15,945
CY 2005 61,504

15,860
CY 2004 58,415

- 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000

I mentioned to Sec. Angara that when before

the best and the brightest go to Normal
Universities to pursue teaching education,
now, teacher education became only the fall
back course from the bottom 60% of the NCEE
and NSAT test takers. Teachers’ salaries in

20
both the public or private schools in our
country took dramatic drops in real income
terms, and the corresponding status and
prestige of teachers in our society likewise
dropped. A vicious downward cycle began, as
status and salaries dropped, the quality of
those attracted to the teaching profession also
dropped and succeeding generations of
teachers proved incapable of earning the
respect of their more talented predecessors.

STRATEGIES

How do we then reclaim our glory days and

improve teacher education in the country?
This inevitably brings us back to a classic
paradigm, i.e find out what is ailing the
system, what needs to be done. What are our
goals in teacher education? What are the
facilitative or detrimental factors to the
attainment of the goals? Baseline information
in current situation is needed to serve as basis
in identifying strategies to “improve” teacher
education. While there may be packaged
strategies in the literature, it makes a lot of
sense to be guided by information specific to
Philippine context We need information that
will –

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 1. provide information on the current state
of teacher education Institutions, curriculum,
faculty, students, etc.
2. identify gaps or problems that have to be
attended to vis-a-vis present societal
demands
3. serve as guide for a blueprint in teacher
education responsive to present and future
needs

Allow me to revisit some factors which I

believe will help you and me think of strategies
to improve teacher education:

Characteristics of the Times

A. Societal context

Economic crisis, corruption in government

Who go into the teaching profession
Salary of teachers
Mobility of people
Technology- rich environment
Migration of teachers
Burn-out teachers
Knowledge-based economy
Globalization
Proliferation of information

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B. School context

New aims of teaching

New types of learners
Changing role of teachers
Isssue on feminization of teaching
Lack of classrooms
Multigrade classes
Cultural diversity in leaners
Mobilityof students
Inadequae instructional materials
Teacher qualifications
New spaces for learning – on line, virtual,
etc.

Based on the above-characteristics of the

present context, what can be proposed to
improve the present state of teacher
education?

GENERAL RECOMMENDATION:

A. Strengthen teacher education institutions

Maintain specialized institutions for teacher

education. Comprehensive universities’
flagship programs are not on teacher
education. Therefore “not enough” attention

23
and resources are devoted to teacher
programs.

B. Teacher Education curriculum (preservice

curriculum) to give teacher a better profile-
• Multi cultural orientation to be able to
handle diverse learners
• Teachers that can balance capability to
implement a mandated curriculum for
learners with resourcefulness and
creativity to have one for diverse learners
• Provide technology enhance
instruction (technology – savvy)
• Facilitates learning effectively
• A balance of knowledge of subject
matter and pedagogical skills
• Adaptive skills in coping with changing
learning contexts in schools – Home study
programs and involvement of parents
• Distance education, etc,
• Cope with a world where knowledge is
becoming highly specialized

C. Design incentives to attract highly

qualified individuals to the teaching profession

D. Improved methods of teacher certification

and credentialing

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• Over and above the board examination
by the PRC, certification in specialized
knowledge may be certified by accredited
institutions or professional organizations
or learned societies

• Stronger researched-based training

programs or in service training programs
of varying modalities to meet peculiar
needs of teacher-clientele

• Implement the Continuing Professional

Education for Teachers as a quality
assurance mechanism.

SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS:

E. Rationalization within a Moratorium Period,

of the creation and conversion of SUCs (Note:
Once a local high school/college is converted
into an SUC, it has an independent charter and
eventually offers a Teacher Education program,
thus adding to the proliferation of TEIs.

F. Faculty Development at the Tertiary Level

G. Strengthening Teacher Competencies at

the Basic Education Level

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F. Presidential Commission to Survey
Philippine Education (PCSPE),1970, Executive
Except for chartered state colleges would be
organized as members of three regional
Universities for Luzon, Visayas, and
Mindanao. ........ all government teacher
training colleges would form the National
College of Teacher Education with the
Philippine Normal College as a nucleus.

G. PESS (Philippine Education Sector Study),

World Bank and ADB in coordination with NEDA

Aimed to analyze the government education

and training policies (including of course those
of teacher education) with current government
conditions, the implications of E&T of the
Philippines’ planned integration into the global
economy.

• gave impetus to the School-based

management policy of DepEd
• supported the policy on principal
empowerment

H. Medium Term Philippine National

Development Plan
Education Component

26
 • Implement Early childhood Education in the
Teacher Education curricula
• Close the classroom gaps

• Build 6,000 classrooms a year

• Adopt double shift classroom
• Expand Service Contracting Scheme
• Provide scholarships for students to
study in private high schools
• Install Distance Learning in conflict
areas
• Upgrade Math, Science and English
teaching and learning
• Institutionalize values formation in
Day Care, Preparatory and Basic
Education
• Upgrade Pre-Service and In-Service
Training of teachers

G. First Higher Education Biennial

Conference, CHED, Workshop 2

The teacher needs to be empowered in four

key result areas (KRA)
• ability to teach reading and
comprehension
• initiative and critical and creative
thinking
• training in values education, and
27
 • a familiarity in and use of instructional
technology

(Observation during conference:

Unfortunately, only about one third of faculty
members in the Philippines have these
credentials)

The recommended strategies are not coming

from thin air. Observations, experiences
dictate them. However, hard evidence should
be obtained through needs analysis vis-à-vis
current state of teacher education and what is
desired. This should provide the robust back-
up for more definitive steps to improve teacher
education, one that will prepare teachers for
the kind of learners today . What was
presented earlier should be considered more of
a set of stimulus to set us further into thinking
collectively, dream dreams for our normal
schools and make those dreams come true.

Personal comments:

We have had enough plans, from the

presidential commissions composed of
prominent educators of the country, and
distinguished technocrats of our bureaucracy.
Implementation however has either been

28
sluggish or would deviate from well-designed
plans/policies.

To illustrate, we have one of the many as an

example. The PCER Recommendation No. 2-
Rationalization within a Moratorium Period, of
the creation and conversion of SUCs. (The
direct relation of this conversion to Teacher
Education, is that a polytechnic or agricultural
college, once converted into a chartered state
institution, becomes free to offer a teaching
course, regardless of its readiness, depending
only on the decision of its Board of
Regents/Trustees)

PCER Recommendation No. 2 was imposed

through a presidential memo on October 7,
1999 to the effect that “Administration would
not in any way support institutional creation or
conversion”.

Nine years after however, in 2008, the

Presidential Task Force in Education (PTFE)
revealed that “the President has declared that
his function is the prerogative of Congress and
expressed the policy not to interfere with the
work of the legislative body.

29
In other instances, the President directed the
concerned agencies to implement
recommendations of presidential commission.
For instance, for PCER Recommendation No. 6-
“To strengthen teacher competencies ..... the
Office of the Presidential Assistant on
Education released the statement that the
“President directed DepEd to focus on in-
service training of teachers especially English
(teachers who were not trained under the new
curriculum within the 24 units of English) and
that “Her Excellency, the President said that
the DepEd should prioritize the development of
teachers’ skills in literacy, communication,
numeracy, critical thinking in the curriculum
for the National Competency-Based Teachers’
Standards.”

PART 4. REFORMS IN TEACHER EDUCATION

IN THE PHILIPPINES.

Based on the propositions I have earlier

mentioned, allow me now to give you some
inputs as to what the government
organizations and non-government
organizations are doing in reforming the
teacher education in the country. Let me begin
with :

30
3.1. THE PRESIDENTIAL TASK FORCE ON
EDUCATION (PTFE) FRAMEWORK.

One of these is the recommendation from the

Presidential Task Force on Education (PTFE).
Let me start by quoting from the living legend
in Education, the great Fr. Bienvenido Nebres,
SJ, President of Ateneo de Manila University
and President of the PTFE. He said that “the
major challenge facing the Philippines
continues to be that of poverty. One of the sad
realities of the past decades has been that our
neighbors have made great strides in
overcoming poverty, but our progress has been
much slower. A key factor is education. The
Nobel-Prize winning economist, Amartya Sen,
says that, in his studies of countries that have
made great progress on overcoming poverty,
what stands out has been their focus on
improving education, especially basic
education. The New York Times headlined this
in May 27, 2002: To Build a Country, Build a
Schoolhouse. Amartya Sen says that poverty
is, of course, lack of resources. But the more
fundamental poverty is a lack of capability.
Capability comes above all from education and
health. We might give money to a poor
person, pero kung walang pinag-aralan o may
TB, the money will soon be gone.”

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Thus, the Presidential Task Force on Education,
as a harmonizing body, created a roadmap
needed to implement the necessary reforms.
These reforms, which are in the form of policy
recommendations, have corresponding action
plans and a monitoring and evaluation scheme
which uses the Philippine Main Education
Highway as the framework to achieve a
knowledge-based economy.

THE MAIN EDUCATION HIGHWAY

The Philippine Education Highway is

conceptualized by the Presidential Task Force
for Education to address the needs of the
education sector from basic, to technical and
vocational, to higher education, and until such
time that the students are ready for
employment. The Philippines is one of very
few countries in the world with three agencies
supervising and controlling the education
system. (Some people jokingly say there are
actually four with PRC as the fourth.) The
trifocalized system may have achieved the
needed focus for each subsector, namely: basic
education, tech-voc training, and higher
education. But there also appeared some
unintended results such as overlapping,

32
duplication, non-coordination, and once in a
while outright turf war. This prompted the
President to create a National Coordinating
Council for Education (NCCE). But not much
happened by way of harmonizing and
coordination of policies and programs. Thus
the President abolished the NCCE but
transferred its functions and mandates to the
Office of the Presidential Assistant for
Education (OPAE). To complement the OPAE in
the performance of its tasks, the Presidential
Task Force for Education was also created.

The Task Force started to work right away and

its initial output is a framework that will be the
basis for the development of the education
system. The framework is now known as the
Main Education Highway, which consists of the
vision of the Filipino family, the primary
investor in education, to make their sons and
daughters get the best possible education it
can afford so that at the end of the highway
they would be able to get the best possible
paying jobs available.

One of the mandates of the OPAE and PTFE is

to conduct a national congress on education
once every two years. On January 31 to
February 1, 2008 the First Biennial National

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Congress on Education was held at the Manila
Hotel, where no less than the President of the
Philippines was the keynote speaker.

ROADMAP

DepEd, CHED, TESDA, and PRC have each come

up with their own roadmaps.

Let me cull from the Report in the Book “The

Philippine Main Education Highway: Towards a
Knowledge-Based Economy,” the
recommendations that have implications to
teacher education:

One of the major recommendations is the

improvement of teachers’ competencies at the
basic education level.

By these, we mean teacher (1) Teachers on

becoming accountable – The President noted
that alarming deterioration of teachers’
competencies, particularly in the English
language. This is attributable to the weak pre-
service training which resulted in the
educators’ incompetence to teach basic skills.
Hence, the President called for the
strengthening of teachers’ in-service trainings.
The new General Education curriculum,

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according to the CHED Technical Panel,
includes: 24 units of the English language, 12
units of Science, 12 units of Mathematics, and
12 units of Social Sciences, adding up to a total
of 60 units. This sensible modification may
hopefully solve the problem of the present BS
education curriculum. On the other hand,
teachers who were not able to avail of this new
curriculum shall undergo intensive teacher
training to improve their competency.

The President instructed DepEd and CHED to

prioritize in the curriculum the hard-skills
(literacy, communication, numeracy, and
critical thinking) in its National Competency-
Based Teachers Standards (NCBTS). She said
that what seems to be the need at present is
to focus our attention to in-service teacher-
trainings, which is also in line with PCER
Recommendation No. 6: Strengthening
Teachers’ Competencies at the Basic Education
Level.

Efforts of the Philippine Government to create

a quality teaching force include new
approaches to accountability, designed and
implemented through teacher leadership and
the participation of large numbers of teachers.
These are packaged in coordination among the

35
three educational agencies: DepEd, CHED, and
TESDA, and the fourth of course, is the PRC.

3.2. THE TEACHER EDUCATION AND

DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Another recommendation is (2) The Basic
Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA) of
the DepEd which is an effort to improve basic
education outcomes through a broadly
participated, popular movement featuring a
wide variety of initiatives. Activities are
undertaken by individual schools and
communities, as well as networks of schools at
localities involving school districts and
divisions, local governments, civil society
organizations, and other stakeholder groups
and associations.

The overall objectives of BESRA, as these

respond to the country’s Education For All
(EFA) objectives by the year 2015, fully
complement and are harmonized with the
objectives of the Philippine Main Education
Highway. Specifically, in the basic education
level, BESRA is attuned to the EFA 2015
definition that basic education “is a process
that enables the child to become self-reliant,
creative, and, in effect become an autonomous
learner.” (EDCOM Report, 1992)

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3.3. THE NATIONAL COMPETENCY-BASED
TEACHER STANDARDS

Another is the (3) National Competency-Based

Teacher Standards or NCBTS. One of the
difficulties for education reform in the present
Philippine structures for delivery of
educational services is the trifocalization of
educational administration with DepEd, CHED
and TESDA. In terms of Teacher Education for
Basic Education, a further bifurcation allocates
the responsibility for Pre-Service Education for
Teachers (PRESET) to CHED and In-Service
Education for Teachers (INSET) to DepEd. Such
a structure can be unwieldy, and does not
allow for the easy resolution of those teacher
education issues that do not really separate
themselves into distinct compartment under
the jurisdiction of either PRESET and/or INSET.
(TEDP Report, 2006)

In this light, the NCBTS, as a new approach to

accountability, emphasizes early intervention,
peer review, and recognition of exemplary
teachers who serve as mentors or lead
teachers. In this case, the NCBTS is an
articulation of a singular competency-based
framework for teaching and teacher

37
development. The framework will serve as a
guide for all policies, reforms, and activities
related to teaching and teacher development.

The NCBTS provides the common framework

for all teaching and teacher development
programs in the Philippine formal education
sector. The NCBTS is a coherent and
integrated definition of the different
dimensions of good teaching that leads to high
levels of student learning. The contents of the
NCBTS were derived from: (a) educational
theories and empirical research on
characteristics of learning environment and
teaching practices that lead to effective
student learning, and (b) documented
successful practices and programs of schools,
division, regions, and educational reform
projects in different parts of the country.

The implementation of NCBTS is coordinated

under a Memorandum of Agreement among
important major stakeholders: DepEd, CHED,
Teacher Education Council (TEC), Civil Service
Commission, Teacher Education Institutions
(TEIs) and of course, the Professional
Regulation Commission (PRC) through its
Board for Professional Teachers (BPT).

38
In the screen, you will see the schematic
representation of the seven integrated
domains of the NCBTS:

These are:
Domain 1: Social regard for learning
Domain 2: The learning environment
Domain 3: The diversity of learners
Domain 4: Curriculum
Domain 5: Planning, Assessing and Reporting
Domain 6: Community linkages
Domain 7: Personal Growth and Professional.

5. UPDATES ON PRC AND THE LICENSURE

EXAMINATION FOR TEACHERS.

As I have earlier mentioned, allow me to give

you an update in teacher education and
licensure examination which we call the
Teacher Education Development Map.

This Teacher Education Development Map is

centered on the National Competency-Based
Teacher Standards (NCBTS). All sectors
concerned with teacher education looked at
these NCBTS for a unified approach to teacher
education. The curriculum in teacher
education institutions is anchored on the
NCBTS. The Board for Professional Teachers of

39
the Professional Regulation Commission gives
LET based on the NCBTS. The new Table of
Specifications for the LET is based on the
NCBTS. The recruitment, selection and
performance appraisal system of teachers of
DepEd and Civil Service Commission are also
based on the NCBTS. Even the Training Needs
Analysis of teachers in the field is based on the
NCBTS. Even the selection of the outstanding
teachers in the Metrobank Outstanding
Teachers Project is based on the NCBTS.

The teacher education development plan

shows the partnership of DepEd, CHED, and
PRC. Teacher education institutions regulated
by CHED should offer a curriculum that
responds to the curriculum in the basic
education level. The Board of Professional
Teachers of PRC ought to test the teacher
education graduates on competencies taught
them in the teacher education institutions.

The Table of Specification (TOS) for the

Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) is an
evidence of the partnership among DepEd,
CHED and PRC. It is a product of collaborative
work of curriculum experts in DepEd, subject
specialists in the teacher education
institutions, academicians, and past and

40
present members of the Board. When the TOS
became official 15 days after its publication in
the Official Gazette, PRC sent a copy to CHED
for dissemination to all teacher education
institutions.

Right now, our BPT is preparing for the LET in

April 2010. This is the second LET that will be
based on the new NCBTS-based TOS, the first
one was piloted in the most recent Oct. 5, 2009
LET examination.

This will consist, for both elementary and

secondary teacher examinees: 150 items for
General Education and 150 items for
Professional Education.

For elementary teacher graduates, the 3rd test

is a 150-item test in either: Preschool, SPED, or
Content Courses. Any elementary teacher
graduate who did not specialize in SPED or in
Preschool has to take the test in Content
Courses. The elementary teacher graduate is
considered a generalist, thus this test in
Content Courses.

For secondary teacher graduates, the 3rd test is

a 150-item test on the following
specializations: English, Filipino, Math,

41
Biological Science, Physical Science, Social
Studies, MAPEH, Values Education, Technology
and Livelihood Education, and Islamic Studies.

There will be a test in Agriculture for those

specializing in Agriculture. This specialization
was removed in the new curriculum. But there
are still graduates in Agricultural Education, so
the Board passed a resolution on the giving of
test on Agriculture to accommodate those
graduates, even this was removed in the TLE
curriculum.

The new teacher education curriculum is

experiential in approach. Experiential learning
courses are introduced side by side with
foundation courses. Confucius said: knowledge
to practice; practice to knowledge again to
practice. In the foundation courses, after the
theory, the students go to the classroom how
this theory gets applied then back to the
classroom to discuss the theory. Teacher
education institutions offered the experiential
learning courses in many different ways but if
we reflect on the rationale behind these
experiential courses, then the best way to
offer these experiential learning courses will
be to put them side by side – theory and
experience. Let us not wait until all theories

42
are over for students to get experience of the
theory.

Another thing for consideration is the Memo

from DepEd wherein teachers for deployment
must have had the 6-unit experiential learning
courses. Your BS or non-Education graduates
must then go through the Experiential
Learning courses for deployment in DepEd.

While the Teachers’ Professionalization Act is

not yet amended, the 18-unit requirement for
professional education subjects is still in place.
CHED already issued a memorandum amending
a former CHED Memo to be consistent with the
law. There is still much confusion in the field
about the 18 unit of 30 unit requirement for
the LET.

6. CLOSING

I hope, with this overload of inputs and

recommendations, we will have something we
could ponder on in the days ahead. So let me
now cut short this very long discourse by
extending my sincere appreciation to all of you
colleagues in the teaching profession with the
sincerest wishes for your success.

43
After everything has been said and done,
perhaps we could surmise that the best
strategy for improving teaching education in
the country is “us.” Us, rediscovering the
inspiration that led us to choose to be teachers
in the first place. Us, recognizing the nobility
and immense potential that a teacher has in
helping fellow human beings develop to their
full potential. Artists work on the printed
page, or on canvas, or even on stone to
produce works that endure, but the teacher
works on the infinitely more valuable human
souls, and that lasts forever. The teacher must
avoid the quagmire of mediocrity and
complacency, and the paralysis of the daily
routine; he or she must constantly be on the
alert for the extraordinary and the possible,
constantly striving for new and creative ways
to be the best teacher he or she can be. In this
situation, the central role of the teacher will be
vindicated and restored, and the corollary
issues of status and compensation will redefine
themselves in a new organizational or
community context.

This forum may not be the time or the place to

go into detail and map out a comprehensive
strategy to develop teacher education
according to the mold we perceive as ideal.

44
But it may be the right time and place to sound
a clarion call for a new type of teacher
educators of the future, to light the spark in
you the leaders and molders of the next
generation of teachers, so that the spark may
be lit and the torch passed on to your
institutions and organizations, until there is
enough light to illuminate the way through
these critical times of transition. And in this
light we dedicate ourselves to the task of
redefining the teacher of the future; in this
light, society can see teachers stand up and be
counted, not just as the guardians of the past,
but rather as the articulators, the heralds,
indeed the shapers of the future.

And by this, we save the Normal Schools in our

country.

SHOW FILM CLIP: IN OUR HANDS.

Mabuhay kayong lahat!

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