SEN. Joel Villanueva wants experts from government partner agencies and institutions to review the Licensure Examination for Teachers.

Villanueva said that third-party experts should be allowed to look at LET questions to improve the alignment of the teacher education curriculum and its related licensure examination.

“Eventually, kung masasabi ng CHED Technical Panel, ng PNU, ng UP, ng PBED, o ng isang third-party audit na matched naman pala sa curriculum at aligned naman pala sa Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers ang LET, then we are finally hitting at the heart of the issue ng pagkatagal-tagal nang ‘alleged mismatch’ ng LET sa curriculum at standards ng DepEd,” the chairman of the Senate higher education committee said during a Senate hearing.

The lawmaker, who conducted the public inquiry alongside Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate basic education committee, lamented the dismal passing rate of aspiring teachers in the LET.

Villanueva said that the average passing rate was 30 percent over an 11-year period. In the September 2019 LET, 445 schools had a zero passing rate.

“With all due respect, we want to be realistic, unbiased, and to look at the whole picture. Hindi po okay ang 30% passing rate kasi more than 100,000 naman ang pumapasa taon-taon. In 2019, out of 386,840 examinees, 147,353 passed the LET, while 239,487 examinees failed,” he said.

“Imagine the government resources and the hard-earned money that our kababayans spend to train these teachers and to pay for their tuition fees. Magkano po ang ginastos ng gobyerno to administer an exam for 386,000 LET examinees?” he added.

Villanueva lamented the lack of coordination in the Teachers Education Council, pointing out that teachers have to go through different agencies including the CHED, PRC, and DepEd, which follow different standards for professional development.

“So, the crux of the matter here is that we want to look into the LET because this will give us the directional arrow for the structure of TEC and the elements of coordination na ilalagay natin sa batas. Looking into the LET will strike at the heart of the issue ng alleged mismatch ng LET sa curriculum at standards ng DepEd. It will ensure na this time, talagang may mangyayari po sa Teacher Education Council,” he said.