SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian welcomed the signing of a joint memorandum circular between the Commission on Higher Education and the Professional Regulation Commission, which seeks to roll out specialized licensure examinations for teacher education programs by September 2025.

Gatchalian said the move ensures that the licensure process for aspiring teachers reflects their specializations and that teacher education curricula align with the Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers.

During the 18th Congress, Gatchalian sponsored the Excellence in Teacher Education Act (Republic Act No. 11713), which revamped the Teacher Education Council and strengthened coordination between the Department of Education, CHED, and PRC to raise the quality of teacher education.

In its Year Two Report, the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) stressed the need to fully operationalize the TEC. The commission had earlier flagged the persistent poor LEPT performance as a result of misalignment between teacher education curricula and exam content.

From 2009 to 2023, EDCOM found that only an average of 33% and 40% passed the LEPT for the elementary and secondary levels, respectively. It also revealed that 62% of high school teachers were teaching subjects unrelated to their college specializations.

“We need to ensure that aspiring teachers are assessed based on what they learned during their pre-service training. The rollout of specialized licensure exams will help bring coherence between teacher education and the licensure process,” said Gatchalian, who co-chairs EDCOM II.