‘FALLBACK, NOT PASSION’: PHL teacher training undermined by gaps and low participation

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

Widespread gaps in teacher training and professional‐development programs are undermining education quality in the Philippines, a new PIDS study has found.

Many Filipino teachers encounter significant barriers to accessing meaningful and relevant training opportunities, including geographic constraints, heavy workloads, financial limitations, and lack of institutional support.

Professional development is often generic and compliance‑driven, implemented through top‑down directives with little room for school‑level autonomy.

Data from school year 2023‑2024 show that only 17.6 percent of public school teachers participated in relevant training activities, while 88 percent in the National Capital Region did not participate at all.

These findings challenge the assumption that urban areas automatically ensure greater access to professional development.

The pandemic’s shift to virtual training exposed a digital divide, with teachers citing inadequate equipment, unreliable internet, and low engagement, which strengthened their preference for face‑to‑face formats.

Current training programs disproportionately emphasize compliance topics such as curriculum rollouts and school‑based management, while under‑representing areas like inclusive education, classroom management, and mental health support.

The cascade method—where a few trained teachers relay learning to their colleagues—often distorts information and is largely ineffective in improving practice.

The system also lacks robust evaluation and feedback mechanisms to assess training effectiveness and real classroom impact.

Challenges begin even before teachers enter the profession, with deeply rooted issues in pre‑service training at Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs).

Between 2012 and 2022, 77 TEIs offering elementary education and 105 offering secondary education had zero percent passing rates in the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) yet continued operating.

A FOUNDATIONAL FLAW

PIDS Senior Research Fellow Dr. John Paolo Rivera said during a July 3 podcast co‑organized with Centro Escolar University that many students enroll in education degrees not out of passion but as a fallback option.

“It’s no longer driven by motivation. [This lack of intrinsic motivation] may affect the quality of education in the end,” Rivera said, underscoring the impact of weak admissions criteria on teacher quality

A school principal interviewed for the study noted that private schools often cannot afford teacher training, especially when travel is required, and that DepEd currently offers in‑service training only for public, not private, schools.

“Although they claim a complementary partnership with us, [we still] hope they extend these programs to private institutions, as many schools cannot afford teacher training, especially when travel is required,” the principal said.

To cope, schools resort to a “Teacher Learning Community” model, where a few teachers attend external seminars and “echo” their learnings to peers to make professional development more accessible.

Systemic misalignment between CHED, DepEd, and PRC standards complicates the design of teacher education curricula and undermines coherence across pre‑service and in‑service pathways.

Teachers across the country have voiced strong demand for more training in classroom and behavior management to address evolving student needs, especially in post‑pandemic contexts.

A private school teacher in the Visayas commented on changing student behavior: “Students nowadays are different from before. We have to [establish] a new classroom management [style] as they are attached to their parents … They also focus on using gadgets for learning.”

MENTAL HEALTH

Educators also called for mental health and stress management training for teachers, citing overwhelming workloads and escalating emotional strain.

Even within TEIs, the systems designed to uphold standards often create their own set of problems.

Rivera also raised serious concerns about the implementation of Quality Assurance (QA) in higher education institutions.

While intended to maintain high standards, QA processes frequently overwhelm faculty with rigorous and time-consuming documentation, detracting from their core duties of teaching and research.

“Based on our findings, teachers said they were willing to undergo QA, but they’re already burdened with so much work—teaching, even research,” Rivera said.

He noted that the implementation of quality indicators remains highly inconsistent across different TEIs, which undermines efforts to standardize the quality of teacher preparation nationwide.

This inconsistency is compounded by a misalignment of frameworks and standards among the country’s key educational bodies: the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Department of Education (DepEd), and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).

Rivera called for streamlined and harmonized reforms to make QA procedures more relevant, less bureaucratic, and genuinely supportive of educational excellence rather than a mere compliance exercise.

DIGITAL CLASSROOM

The increasing role of digital tools and artificial intelligence (AI) in classrooms has introduced another layer of complexity, yet educators report that clear guidance and adequate support are lacking.

Rivera underscored that AI should be viewed as a tool to support—not replace—the essential role of the teacher.

“Education still requires a personal touch,” he explained, highlighting that positive learning outcomes depend on the teacher’s ability to apply technology meaningfully and foster human connection.

Abrigo cautioned against an over-reliance on AI, citing the inherent risks of misinformation and algorithmic biases, sometimes referred to as “hallucinations.”

He advocated for training that equips not only teachers but also students to understand the boundaries of AI and use it responsibly and ethically.

However, the reality for many educators is a significant digital divide.

Numerous teachers reported struggling with limited access to personal laptops or tablets, unreliable internet connections, and a general lack of familiarity with advanced digital tools, which hinders both their teaching and their own professional development.

MISMATCHED TRAINING, CLASSROOM REALITIES

Once teachers enter the service, the challenges continue with professional development that often misses the mark.

Further PIDS research from Rivera revealed a persistent and critical gap between the training offered and the actual needs of teachers already in service.

“A well-designed teacher professional development program comes from assessing whether the training they are taking is suitable for a real classroom setting,” Rivera argued.

“It can’t be one-size-fits-all.”

He stressed that training must be directly aligned with classroom realities and adapted to diverse regional and local contexts.

PIDS Senior Research Fellow Dr. Michael Ralph Abrigo echoed this sentiment, noting that teachers are seeking practical, everyday skills that are immediately applicable.

“Many of the trainings they want are about the everyday challenges they face,” Abrigo said.

“For instance, how to handle unruly students or how to use ICT tools.”

Despite this clear demand, participation in relevant training remains alarmingly low.

Only 17.6% of public school teachers nationwide participated in relevant professional development during School Year 2023-2024.

The situation is particularly dire in the National Capital Region, where non-participation rates reached a staggering 88%.

Teachers also expressed deep frustration with training programs dominated by structural or compliance-driven topics, such as curriculum rollouts and school-based management.

Meanwhile, critical areas where they feel most unprepared—such as differentiated instruction for diverse learners, inclusive education practices, and digital literacy—are consistently underrepresented in official training agendas.

This disconnect persists even though mechanisms like the Electronic Self-Assessment Tool (ESAT) are in place to identify teachers’ needs.

The findings suggest that these assessments are often procedural and do not meaningfully inform the design of national or regional training programs.

DIVERSE LEARNER NEEDS

The studies also highlight that between 15 and 20 percent of learners globally are neurodivergent and call for teacher training that supports inclusive education and responds to diverse learner needs.

Rivera urged a whole‑of‑society approach involving schools, families, communities, faith‑based groups, the private sector, and policymakers to support inclusive education.

He also called for restoring the high regard once afforded to educators, pointing to countries like Japan where teaching is a respected profession.

“This cannot be addressed by just one stakeholder alone. Maybe we need to go back to placing greater value on our teachers,” Rivera said.

HOLISTIC SUPPORT

The PIDS studies also underscored the urgent need for a more inclusive and supportive educational environment for all.

Rivera stressed that teacher training must be enhanced to support neurodivergent learners, who are estimated to make up 15% to 20% of the global population yet often remain underserved in mainstream classrooms.

The research also flagged a rise in behavioral and mental health issues among students post-pandemic, including heightened anxiety, attention difficulties, and a lack of socialization skills.

These are critical classroom challenges that current teacher training programs rarely address, fueling calls for more robust support in mental health awareness and classroom behavior management for both students and teachers.

Beyond technical training, the experts emphasized the need to restore the high regard and societal respect once afforded to teachers.

“This cannot be addressed by just one stakeholder alone,” Rivera concluded, referencing countries like Japan where educators are held in high esteem.

“Maybe we need to go back to placing greater value on our teachers.”

He called for a whole-of-society effort, involving schools, families, communities, faith-based organizations, the private sector, and policymakers, to collectively rebuild the foundations of the teaching profession and, by extension, the nation’s future.

The two PIDS studies – Quality Education Starting with Teacher Education and Revitalizing the Philippine Education System: Facilitating Access and Participation to In‑Service Training (INSET) and Teacher Professional Development (TPD) – were discussed during the July 3 live podcast with CEU and are available online

PIDS’s findings echo broader concerns: the country’s low teacher pass rates and weak training systems have contributed to poor learning outcomes and widening inequities in educational quality

EDCOM 2, in its January 2025 Year Two report Fixing the Foundations: A Matter of National Survival, called for major reforms to address these foundational learning deficits, many of which stem from weaknesses in teacher pre‑service and in‑service systems

EDCOM 2 co‑chairperson Congressman Romulo and PIDS President Orbeta stressed that TEIs with zero percent LET passing rates must be reviewed or closed, and that monitoring standards must be strengthened across institutions.

Reform proposals include tightening admission criteria for teacher education, expanding training access—including private schools—aligning institution standards, integrating digital and AI tools responsibly, and establishing sustainable, context‑sensitive frameworks for teacher development.

PIDS recommends that training should be tailored to local needs, responsive to classroom realities, and designed with meaningful evaluation mechanisms.

Quality assurance processes in TEIs must be streamlined, less bureaucratic, and aligned with mission‑driven teaching outcomes rather than paperwork burdens.

Ultimately, PIDS argues that improving teacher quality through strategic reforms cannot succeed without elevating the teaching profession’s status, increasing equitable funding, and building support systems that reflect modern classroom demands.