"By December, we will present the review and redesign of the teacher education curriculum...The current curriculum is a one-size-fits-all model, and the data clearly shows that this approach is no longer effective". This is the promise of newly-confirmed Teacher Education Council Executive Director Dr. Jennie Jocson during a hearing of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education on September 11.

EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Rep. Mark Go, chaired the meeting, which was conducted to address the pressing issues surrounding the quality of teacher education institutions in the country.

In its Year One report, the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) highlighted the urgency of addressing these issues, noting that reforms within the Teacher Education Council (TEC) have been stalled for two years. Despite the passage of the Excellence in Teacher Education Act in 2022, which aims to strengthen the TEC and resolve coordination challenges across institutions, progress has been slow, with Executive Director Jocson only appointed in August.

"While the legislative framework is in place, the real work of improving teacher quality has yet to begin," EDCOM 2 Commissioner Go remarked during the hearing.

ED Jocson also shared during the session that a study by the World Bank revealed concerning gaps in teacher competency. According to the findings, many teachers who took a content test based on the curriculum were only able to answer basic-level questions. When asked to perform more complex tasks requiring two or three steps, most were unable to respond effectively. This trend of underperformance mirrors the results seen in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), where Filipino students also struggled to answer questions that require deeper content knowledge.

She emphasized the need to provide more flexibility to institutions, particularly strong state universities and colleges (SUCs) with teacher education programs, and allowing them to adapt to the specific needs of their regions.

"We cannot continue to impose a minimum standard on institutions that are capable of much more. The curriculum must be tailored to support regional contexts," Jocson said.

Rethinking graduate education requirements

The discussion also shifted towards the qualifications required for educators and administrators in higher education. A presentation by the Research Institute for Teacher Quality (RITQ) highlighted the correlation between higher academic qualifications and better performance in the LET. However, the study raised questions about the current requirement for a master's degree for tenure, pointing out that this approach is limiting.

EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Rep. Roman Romulo also expressed concern that the current minimum requirement for a master's degree has placed a burden on instructors, who struggle to balance teaching responsibilities with attending classes. He suggested that it may be time to reevaluate this policy to better accommodate the realities faced by educators.

EDCOM 2 Standing Committee member Dr. Cynthia Bautista, noted that the requirement for a master's degree for tenure is a global standard, "the premise of this requirement is that as you do a master's degree, you develop your expertise in terms of content in the field. However, it doesn't always happen because the quality of graduate education is so uneven in this country" Dr. Bautista added.

Dr. Edizon Fermin of the Commission on Higher Education's Technical Panel for Teacher Education, responded that CHED had already adopted CMO 15, series of 2019, which introduces more flexible pathways to earning graduate degrees. "We now have a Master's and PhD by research track. If your faculty member is better at producing research than attending taught courses, they can follow this path. And for practitioners, instead of only taking academic courses, their professional experience can be recognized through a credit accumulation and transfer scheme," he explained.

Source: http://legacy.senate.gov.ph/press.../2024/0911_edcom3.asp.