SEN. Sherwin Gatchalian on Saturday reiterated the need to improve the quality of teacher education and training as he lamented the results of global assessments showing Filipino children sorely lacking in academic proficiency.

Gatchalian said that while the assessment of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2019 revealed that the Philippines lags behind 57 countries in Math and Science, it also reported that less than 50 percent of Grade 4 learners received instructions with high clarity.

To measure the clarity of instruction, learners were asked how clearly they received instructions in Mathematics and Science.

The scale also covers the capacity of their teachers to offer clear answers to questions, explain the subjects clearly, do a variety of things to help them learn, and explain a topic again when learners do not understand.

The TIMSS study showed that only 48 percent of Grade 4 learners in the country reported receiving Mathematics instruction with high clarity, 37 percent received instruction with moderate clarity, while 15 percent received instruction with low clarity.

In Science, 48 percent reported receiving instruction with high clarity, 36 percent received instruction with moderate clarity and 16 percent with low clarity.

Gatchalian said that while the Department of Education supports teachers’ upskilling and reskilling, the country should first help aspiring teachers receive quality education and training from teacher education institutions to improve learner outcomes.

“We need to restructure the entire teacher education continuum from studying in college, getting a license, and teaching in our public schools. Our public school system has 90 percent of our students so if you have a poorly performing public school system, the entire nation is affected,” the chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture said.

Gatchalian filed Senate Bill 1887 or the Teacher Education Council Act, which seeks to achieve better coordination between the DepEd, the Commission on Higher Education, and the Professional Regulation Commission in improving teacher education and training in the country.

The measure also aims to ensure the link and coherence between pre-service education and in-service education, and improve teacher education outcomes.