EDCOM 2 on education crisis: Fix teacher problems as well

Amid the country’s worsening education crisis, the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) emphasized the need to fix the foundations of the system such as the problems that concern teachers.

In an interview with Rappler on Jan. 28, EDCOM 2 Executive Director Karol Yee said that issues on the loose enforcement of hiring policies and the misalignment of the teacher education curriculum with the licensure examinations need to be addressed. 

“We need to improve coordination in teacher education kasi ang dehado ‘yong teacher at ‘yong bata,” Yee said.

Hiring policy inconsistencies

In the data released by EDCOM 2, it was revealed that 62% of high school public school teachers are handling subjects that they did not major in college.

Among the subjects that have the highest number of mismatches are Physical Sciences at 98%, Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao at 94%, and Biological Sciences at 80%.

Yee said that a high school teacher should teach in the specialization that they have graduated from.

“On the ground, may mga teachers na nagsasabi sa akin, ‘Sir, how can I teach well? Filipino ‘yong inaral ko, pinapaturo sa akin mathematics’...You cannot give what you do not have,” he said.

Yee also said that teachers immediately grab vacant positions even if hiring announcements are unclear of the designation, just so they could have a permanent occupation.

The director stressed that there should be a reform in the teacher education curriculum as well as the hiring policy to avoid the inconsistencies.

“We need to address the realities of our public schools in terms of specialization in terms of content knowledge,” Yee said. “Dapat those who would prepare for teaching positions, talang enough yung content knowledge,” he added.

Yee called on the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commision on Higher Education (CHED) for a strengthened coordination for them to tackle the balance of the slots in tertiary education programs and the demand in the system.

Licensure exam vs. teacher education

Yee also said that there is a misalignment in the teacher education curriculum in college and the licensure examination that is being administered for them.

“Maraming bumabagsak sa licensure exam kasi hindi magkatugma ng tinuro natin tapos ‘yong tinest natin. Tapos, pagdating sa hiring nawawala din naman pala ‘yong specialization kasi hindi nakalagay [sa hiring announcement],” he explained.

In 2017, Yee revealed that although the new program of the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education has been opened, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) did not adjust its examinations and still uses the test used for elementary education.

He added that teachers specializing in Physical Education also experience the misalignment of the licensure examination, as they get questions regarding subjects that they have not studied in college.

“They (teachers) suffer everyday because of this mismatch that we have been unable to resolve,” the director said.

Yee said that he hopes for a dynamism of the agencies’ coordination because although there are efforts in fixing the matter, there are still many things to improve on.