The Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) is calling on the government to implement reforms in the Board Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (BLEPT) to ensure only the most qualified educators enter the nation’s classrooms
The call comes as the country marks World Teacher’s Day.
PBEd cited the critical role of fixing the foundations of teacher preparation and licensure to address the Philippines’ learning crisis.
“Teachers are at the heart of learning recovery but to empower them, we must start by ensuring that those who enter the profession are well-trained, well-supported, and rigorously screened. The BLEPT must be a fair, valid and reliable measure of teacher readiness,” PBEd executive director Bal Camua said.
A study, Fixing the Foundations: Strengthening the Teaching Workforce through the BLEPT, presented by the Second Congressional Commission on Education, reports several critical gaps in how the licensure exam is currently designed and administered.
These include a misalignment between the BLEPT and the teacher education curriculum, as well as the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers; a limited number of qualified item writers and reviewers, with only three board members preparing questions for eight degree programs and multiple specializations; and the absence of pilot testing and systematic item analysis, which raises concerns about the test’s validity and fairness.
The Professional Regulation Commission, the Commission on Higher Education, the Teacher Education Council and the Department of Education must work together to overhaul the BLEPT’s test development and administration process.
This entails deputizing subject-matter experts from various specializations to craft and review test items; conducting pilot testing and psychometric analysis to ensure quality and reliability; establishing a comprehensive item bank and metadata system for exam monitoring; and institutionalizing standardized test administration protocols to uphold integrity and fairness across testing sites.
“Strengthening the BLEPT is not about making it harder—it’s about making it smarter and aligned with the current needs of the teachers and learners,” Camua said.
“We owe it to our aspiring teachers to give them an exam that truly reflects what good teaching looks like, and to our learners to ensure that those who pass are ready to teach effectively,” he said.
A previous PBEd study on teacher performance in the BLEPT revealed that from 2010 to 2022, less than 40 percent of exam-takers passed the test.
“Fixing teacher licensure is not just a technical issue—it’s a matter of national survival. We can’t solve the learning crisis without first ensuring that every classroom is led by a competent, compassionate, and well-prepared teacher,” Camua said.
