THE Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) signed a Joint Memorandum Circular today in Malacañang, agreeing to align the Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (LEPT) with the teacher education curriculum beginning September 2025.
The signing was witnessed by the President, following his instructions during the Sectoral Meeting on the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) Year Two Report, Fixing the Foundations last March 4, 2025. In the said meeting, President Marcos directed CHED and PRC to urgently address the misalignment, while the legislation to amend RA 7836 or the Teacher Professionalization Act of 1994 is still underway.
“Teachers shape our nation’s future. This landmark reform embodies our commitment to ensuring that every Filipino teacher is equipped with the skills and tools needed to teach with depth, with clarity and with purpose. It is a vital step towards raising the quality of education for our present and, most importantly, our future generations,” stated President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
According to the EDCOM Report, the longstanding misalignment between the teacher education curriculum issued by CHED, and the contents of the BLEPT administered by PRC, has contributed to low passing rates among graduates as well as teacher specialization mismatch in schools. Based on the analysis of the Commission, the passing rate in the March 2024 BLEPT of graduates taking the MAPEH (34.1%) and TLTVE (33.2%) is much lower than the average passing rate of 62.9%. Same goes for Early Childhood Education graduates (42.1%) who are required to take the Elementary BLEPT, with an average passing rate of 53.8%. This is one of the factors identified as contributing to the teacher specialization mismatch, with EDCOM finding that 62% of high school teachers were assigned to subjects that do not match their college majors.
Scheduled to be phased in by September 2025, the Joint Circular separates examinations for distinct teaching specializations, including Early Childhood Education, and Special Needs Education. This alignment is tailored to ensure that the examination accurately reflects the competencies required for effective teaching at various educational levels and fields of specializations.
“By September 2025, we will endeavor to have specialized exams for teacher education programs: including early childhood and special needs education. This provides an additional layer of quality assurance, ensuring that the Department of Education can effectively seek out not just any licensed individual, but specifically those who are rightly qualified,” said PRC Chairperson Atty. Charito Zamora.
“Our ultimate goal is quality education, and we can only achieve this if we have teachers who truly understand what they teach. This alignment of the LEPT with the teacher education curriculum ensures that our educators are not just qualified, but are deeply knowledgeable in their specific fields. This is a big step towards providing the quality education that our students deserve,” said EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Rep. Roman Romulo.
“We need to make sure that the assessment of our aspiring teachers reflects their specializations. 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,” EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Senator Win Gatchalian said.
Legislative efforts are currently underway to amend RA 7836 or the Teacher Professionalization Act of 1994. House Bill 9979, filed by EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Rep. Roman Romulo and EDCOM 2 Commissioners Rep. Khalid Dimaporo, Rep. Pablo John Garcia, and now TESDA Director-General Kiko Benitez, passed in the House of Representatives on March 19, 2024. In the Senate, counterpart bills introduced by EDCOM 2 Co-Chairperson Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, Senator Loren Legarda, and Senator Joel Villanueva are currently pending review.
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