In a landmark move to improve the quality of teacher education in the Philippines, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) signed a joint memorandum circular (JMC) on Thursday to align the Board Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (BLEPT) with the teacher education curriculum.
The signing ceremony, led by PRC Chairperson Charito Zamora and CHED Chairperson J. Prospero de Vera III, was held at Malacañan Palace and witnessed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
In his keynote address, President Marcos lauded the initiative as a vital step in reforming the education sector by ensuring that the teacher licensure exam reflects the actual competencies required in modern classrooms.
“It is a vital step towards raising the quality of education for our present and, most importantly, our future generations,” Marcos said. “We are aligning our systems to ensure the Licensure Examination reflects the actual competencies needed in classrooms today —whether in early childhood education, special needs education, or the many subjects taught in high schools across the country.”
Under the JMC, BLEPT will now be conducted separately by program, consistent with CHED’s program standards and guidelines. Separate exams will be given for elementary and secondary education, with specialized focus areas.
For elementary education, exams will cover Early Childhood Education and Special Needs Education. For secondary education, areas of specialization include English, Filipino, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Values Education, Technology and Livelihood Education, Technical-Vocational Teacher Education, Physical Education, and Culture and Arts Education.
Marcos noted that the reforms address long-standing gaps in the Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act of 1994. Between 2014 and 2024, BLEPT passing rates averaged just 36.33 percent at the elementary level and 43.57 percent at the secondary level.
“Through this Joint Circular, we are making that process more than just relevant, more responsive, to every single examinee,” he said. “What they learn should prepare them for the test that they are meant to take and the classrooms they are meant to lead.”
The Second Congressional Commission on Education previously identified a misalignment between CHED’s curriculum and the PRC-administered BLEPT as a factor behind low passing rates and mismatched teacher specializations. For example, in the March 2024 BLEPT, graduates of Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health (MAPEH) and Technology and Livelihood Education (TLTVE) posted low passing rates of 34.1 percent and 33.2 percent, respectively, compared to an average of 62.9 percent.
This mismatch has also led to 62 percent of high school teachers being assigned to subjects they did not major in.
Pending the passage of an amendatory law to further reform the education system, Marcos said his administration would continue building a foundation of “empowered and compassionate teachers” to drive national progress.