Senator Win Gatchalian hailed the signing of a joint memorandum circular between the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) that seeks to roll out specialized licensure examinations for teacher education programs by September 2025.

For Gatchalian, this development ensures that the licensure process for aspiring teachers reflects their specializations. It also ensures that the teacher education curriculum is aligned with the Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (LEPT).

During the 18th Congress, Gatchalian sponsored the Excellence in Teacher Education Act (Republic Act No. 11713), which revamps the Teacher Education Council (TEC) and strengthens collaboration between the Department of Education (DepEd), CHED, and PRC to improve the quality of teacher education. 

In its Year Two Report, the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) emphasized the need to fully operationalize the TEC. The commission previously flagged that the persistent poor results in the LEPT suggest misalignment between the teacher education curricula and the exam content.

The EDCOM found that from 2009 to 2023, only an average of 33% and 40% passed the LEPT for the elementary and secondary levels, respectively. The commission also found that 62% of high school teachers teach subjects that do not match their specializations in college. 

“We need to make sure that aspiring teachers are being assessed based on what they learned and studied at the pre-service level. Rolling-out specialized examinations will help ensure coherence between teacher education and the licensure process,” said Gatchalian, EDCOM II Co-Chairperson.