THE SECOND Congressional Commission on Education or EDCOM 2 is reviewing the qualifications required for educators and administrators in higher education.

A presentation by the Research Institute for Teacher Quality highlighted the correlation between higher academic qualifications and better performance in the LET.

However, the study raised questions about the current requirement for a master’s degree for tenure, pointing out that this approach is limiting.

EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Rep. Roman Romulo also expressed concern that the current minimum requirement for a master’s degree has placed a burden on instructors, who struggle to balance teaching responsibilities with attending classes.

He suggested that it may be time to reevaluate this policy to better accommodate the realities faced by educators.

EDCOM 2 Standing Committee member Dr. Cynthia Bautista noted that the requirement for a master’s degree for tenure is a global standard, the premise of this requirement is that as you do a master’s degree, you develop your expertise in terms of content in the field.

“However, it doesn’t always happen because the quality of graduate education is so uneven in this country” Dr. Bautista added.

Dr. Edizon Fermin of the Commission on Higher Education’s Technical Panel for Teacher Education responded that CHED had already adopted CMO 15, a series of 2019, which introduces more flexible pathways to earning graduate degrees.

“We now have a Master’s and PhD by research track. If your faculty member is better at producing research than attending taught courses, they can follow this path. And for practitioners, instead of only taking academic courses, their professional experience can be recognized through a credit accumulation and transfer scheme,” he explained.