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(+632) 88014447PBEd backs bills strengthening teacher professionalization in the Philippines
PBEd | January 15, 2025
Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) strongly supports bills seeking to amend the Philippine Teacher Professionalization Act of 1994 to address the evolving needs of teachers and the education sector.
Industry-led advocacy group views the proposed amendments in Senate Bills (SBN) 2830, 2840, and 2884, filed by Senators Loren Legarda, Sherwin Gatchalian, and Bong Revilla, as crucial steps towards improving teacher professionalization by strengthening the licensure process through practical assessments and promoting greater transparency.
In its position paper, PBEd welcomed the introduction of alternative pathways to teacher professionalization, as outlined in Senate Bills 2830 and 2840. These bills allow graduates from accredited high-performing teacher education institutions (TEIs) to submit portfolios instead of taking the written licensure examination.
“Given the need for more stringent standards for teacher education institutions (TEIs) in the country, this pathway may only be applicable for a select number of high-performing TEIs, but is also nonetheless a forward-looking incentive that will encourage quality at the pre-service level. This draws inspiration from the Australian model, where quality assurance is at the level of TEIs,” explained the industry-led advocacy group.
PBEd also supports a pathway that allows experienced teachers, including part-time, provisional, tertiary, and overseas teachers, to submit a portfolio of their work in lieu of the licensure examination. This encourages more specialized professionals to join the teaching workforce and helps address the demands of the Department of Education's (DepEd) evolving curriculum reforms, which aim to equip learners with skills to make them employable and work-ready.
Despite the support of PBEd and other teacher education experts for alternative teacher licensure pathways, these provisions faced initial resistance from other resource persons during the Senate hearing. Emphasizing the need for innovative solutions after 30 years of relying on the traditional licensure pathway of a written examination, PBEd Policy and Advocacy Manager Andoni Santos said, “The bill is future-facing for pre-service teacher development. We are in a learning crisis; our house is on fire. We need radical solutions.”
While these amendments are significant, PBEd also recognizes that they are not a panacea. "Improving teacher quality entails simultaneously assuring the quality of teacher education programs and certifications, strengthening the licensure process, matching the specializations of teachers and the subject that they teach, deloading them from non-teaching tasks, supporting professional development, and improving their overall work environment,” emphasized Justine Raagas, Executive Director of PBEd in a separate statement.