Which are the best schools for would-be teachers?

MANILA — The House of Representatives has cited 24 universities and colleges due to the exceptional performances of their graduates in the last two licensure exams for elementary and high school instructors.

Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo, the chairman of the House committee on higher and technical education, said the 24 schools were the only ones “with 50 or more examinees and with at least 80 percent of their examinees passing” the last two licensure tests for elementary and high school teachers.

“Again, we are making this list public to enable consumers of teaching education –- prospective teachers and their parents –- to make a sound choice as to where they will most likely get the best value for their hard earned tuition money,” Romulo said.

For high school teachers:

• University of the Philippines–Diliman (91.66%);
• Saint Louis University-Baguio (90.88%);
• University of San Carlos–Cebu (90.16%);
• University of Santo Tomas (89.59%);
• Philippine Normal University–Manila (89.43%);
• Philippine Normal University–Agusan (88.83%);
• University of Southeastern Philippines-Tagum (88.00%);
• Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (84.06%);
• Bohol Island State University–Tagbilaran (82.89%);
• Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Taguig (82.26%);
• Davao Oriental State College of Science & Technology (82.18%);
• Xavier University-Cagayan de Oro (81.71%); and
• Technological University of the Philippines–Cavite (80.65%).

For elementary school teachers:

• University of Santo Tomas (100.00%);
• Bohol Island State University–Tagbilaran (95.95%);
• West Visayas State University–La Paz (94.76%);
• Xavier University-Cagayan de Oro (93.16%);
• Philippine Normal University–Manila (91.34%);
• Talisay City College-Cebu (90.24%);
• Southern Iloilo Polytechnic College (86.27%);
• Saint Louis University-Baguio (84.91%);
• Western Visayas College of Science & Technology-La Paz (82.31%);
• Bohol Island State University–Bilar (81.13%); and
• Cebu Technological University–Argao (80.72%).

The licensure exams were given in March and September 2013 for elementary and high school instructors, respectively.

Citing data from the Professional Regulation Commission and the Commission on Higher Education, Romulo said there are 1,663 institutions certified to produce high school teachers, and 1,280 institutions for elementary teachers.

While there are other schools with at least 80% of their graduates passing the exams, Romulo explained that they were excluded since they only had fewer than 50 examinees.

The Department of Education is the country’s single largest employer of teachers, with a total of 669,997 permanent positions, of which 591,163 have been filled. In 2013, it spent P148.37 billion to pay for permanent teaching positions.

This year, the DepEd will spend P9.5 billion to hire 33,194 teachers and 1,500 school principals. –ABS-CBNnews.com