10 April 2025

To address issues concerning teacher quality, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Philippine Regulation Commission (PRC) partnered to deliver new specialization components in the licensure examination for teachers (LET).

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stood witness in the signing of the Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) between the CHED Secretary Popoy De Vera and PRC Chairperson Charito A. Zamora at the Malacañan Palace today.

The key feature of the agreement is the alignment of the LET for Early Childhood Education, Special Needs Education, Technical-Vocational Teacher Education, Physical Education, and Culture and Arts Education with the CHED programs, standards, and guidelines (PSGs).

This effectively enables graduates of such specializations to take a more suitable test that determines their readiness to teach. Ultimately, it is expected to contribute to resolving the teacher-subject mismatch in basic education schools.

“This landmark reform embodies our commitment to ensure that every Filipino teacher is equipped with the skills and tools needed to teach with depth, clarity, and purpose. It is a vital step towards raising the quality of education for the present, and most importantly for the future,” President Marcos said.

“CHED fully supports the formulation of specialized licensure examinations for teachers and commits to actively collaborate with the PRC to ensure the effective delivery and implementation of this landmark joint agreement,” De Vera said.

“This is set to transform the teacher licensure process by introducing distinct examinations tailored to each teacher education program specialization, in accordance with the 2017 CHED PSGs. It marks a significant milestone in our collective effort to deploy highly qualified, licensed teachers to schools across the country,” he added.

“Aligning the board licensure examinations for professional teachers is a critical measure to guarantee the quality of education in the classroom,” Zamora said.

Last week, CHED awarded one hundred twenty (120) teacher education institutions for their competence in producing educators through their adherence to accredited program standards, continuous improvement in teaching methodologies, and stellar performance in the Board of Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (BLEPT).

These top TEIs are set to assist other Philippine higher education institutions to improve their quality assurance mechanisms to ensure they meet and exceed national standards for teacher education.

Currently, there one thousand five hundred thirty-six (1,536) Philippine HEIs offering teacher education programs.

(SIGNED)
J. PROSPERO E. DE VERA III
CHED Secretary