Specialized licensure exams for teachers will be rolled out starting in September to address subject mismatches in classrooms.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) formalized the move by signing a joint memorandum circular in Malacañang.
The agreement mandates the alignment of the Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (LEPT) with the actual curriculum of teacher education programs.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who witnessed the signing, previously directed CHED and PRC to fix the misalignment during a March 4 sectoral meeting on EDCOM 2’s year two report.
EDCOM 2 earlier flagged a chronic mismatch in the education system, reporting that 62 percent of high school teachers are teaching subjects outside their college majors.
In the March 2024 LEPT, only 34.1 percent of MAPEH graduates and 33.2 percent of technical-vocational majors passed, far below the 62.9-percent national average.
Early Childhood Education graduates also posted a low 42.1 percent passing rate, despite being required to take the general Elementary LEPT, which had a 53.8 percent average.
“We need to make sure that the assessment of our aspiring teachers reflects their specializations,” Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said, calling it a crucial reform to improve the quality of instruction in Philippine schools.
“Implementing specialized versions of the LEPT is one step to address teacher-subject mismatch, which will eventually help us improve the quality of instruction in our schools,” he added.