THE Second Congressional Commission on Education’s (EDCOM 2) urges the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to undertake rigorous and immediate quality regulation on graduate programs, particularly within teacher education.
This is after the Commission’s latest study found that hiring and promotions policies in government have contributed to the proliferation of poor-quality graduate education programs in the country, especially in teacher education. The study, Investigating the State of Graduate Education in the Philippines: Challenges, Opportunities, and Policy Implications, authored by Anne Lan K. Candelaria, Eric Arthur N. Dio, and Jovelyn G. Delosa was conducted through a Research Fellowship with the Ateneo de Manila University.
The study’s findings highlight a systemic issue wherein policy incentives designed to uplift educators are inadvertently degrading instructional quality. Analyzing data from Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) submitted to CHED covering the period from School Year 2012-2013 up to SY 2023-2024, the investigation confirms that more than half of the country’s total enrollment in graduate programs is concentrated in the field of education. This demand is sustained primarily by vertical qualification requirements and point-based promotion systems within the Department of Education (DepEd).
The gravity of the situation is further underscored by severely low completion rates: 8 out of 10 graduate students are unable to complete their degree programs within the prescribed period of two years for Master’s degrees and four years for Doctoral degrees.The same study noted how most specialized graduate programs are mainly offered by private universities and concentrated in Metro Manila [provide data here], limiting accessibility to diverse options and specializations outside the National Capital Region, and out of reach for low-income students.
Moreover, this system has resulted in the proliferation of “diploma mills” in teacher education and Public Administration-related graduate programs, as existing policies fail to discriminate based on the quality of where graduate credits or degrees were obtained. The study also notes that specialized degrees, such as those related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), are being marginalized, creating an imbalance in the production of specialized graduates needed by public schools.
“Data from CHEd shows that in the last 10 school years, more than half of our country’s total enrollment in graduate programs is in the field of education”, the study’s authors, Anne Candelaria, Eric Dio, and Jovelyn Delosa, noted in a separate article. “Yet, our elementary and secondary students in the basic education sector have been lagging based on Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and Programme for International Student Assessment results in the last 20 years. In some of these years, the Philippines ranked bottom”. They further highlighted the unintended consequence of this trend, stating that the situation “has also created an imbalance in terms of how we are able to produce graduates with specialized knowledge in areas such as mathematics and the sciences, which our public schools badly need”.
“Our study’s findings on program quality and the ‘diploma-for-promotion’ cycle clearly resonate with the public and practitioners. The feedback we’ve received underscores a deep-seated frustration with the current system”, EDCOM 2 Executive DIrector Dr. Karol Mark Yee said.
“There is a strong public perception that the pursuit of advanced degrees has at times become transactional—a means to gain promotion points rather than to enhance teaching competence. This sentiment is fueled by a perceived failure to properly regulate institutions, leading to a situation where, as many have pointed out, low-quality or ‘fly-by-night’ schools provide the same career benefits as high-quality universities. This reality undermines the very purpose of professional development and points to an urgent need for systemic reform”, Yee continued.
To solve these deep-seated systemic and structural inequalities, the EDCOM 2 study strongly advocates for intensified governance and quality assurance from CHED. Crucially, the authors recommend that CHED should adopt a tiered regulatory approach for HEIs offering graduate programs, shifting away from a uniform policy to account for differences in institutional capacity, program quality, and regional context.
This regulatory shift should be complemented by action from the Department of Education, with the recommendation that DepEd should consider the quality of HEI and graduate programs for career progression purposes, moving beyond simply accepting degrees from any CHED-recognized institution. Candelaria and her co-authors urge inter-agency cooperation to initiate reform: “For a start, we recommend that CHEd and DepEd jointly review the impact of the policy on vertical alignment on graduate degrees based on current realities to address systemic and structural inequalities”.
To ensure transparency and address the issue of unscrupulous institutions, CHED is further advised to regularly publish a “white list” of quality graduate degree programs.
EDCOM 2 maintains that addressing the fundamental structural issues in graduate education is key to advancing national Human Capital Development and driving long-term inclusive growth. The full research study is published at www.edcom2.gov.ph.
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