This page gives an overview of the qualifications required to become a teacher within the school system in the Philippines. It also lists the different training institutions and training a teacher receives.
Teacher Qualifications
The standard teaching credential in the Philippines is a four-year bachelor's degree. Elementary school teachers are qualified through a Bachelor of Elementary Education, and secondary school teachers through a Bachelor of Secondary Education. The curriculum for both these programs are tailored to the level of education and is set by Comission for Higher Education and consists of general education subjects, education-related subjects, subject specialization and practical teaching. For those with a bachelor's degree in other field can also qualify to becoming a teacher by completing a post-graduate program in Education. These post-graduate programs range from one semester to one year in lenth and are completed by awarding a credential most commonly referred as the Certificate of Professional Education.
Teacher Training Institutions
According to research, there are over 2000 higher education institutes in total in the Philippines out of which approximately 600 are public and the 1500 are private. Additionally, there are also international, preparatory schools that offer range of opportunities for those seeking a teaching job. The teacher licensure exam that teachers are expected to take at the end of their program has proven to be very competetive. In the past, while enrollment for these programs was as high as approximately 3 million only 17 percent of them completed the degree. Furthermore, only 29% of the students cleared the licensure for elementary and 28% for secondary, which means that only 5 out of 100 students enrolled in a teacher education program in the Philippines become qualified to teach.
