Villanueva: Cancellation of Teachers’ Exams Shows PRC ‘Stuck in the Past’
Senator Joel Villanueva today took to task the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) for failing to administer more than 80 licensure exams because it was “stuck in the past.”
The PRC has become a dinosaur because of its failure for 20 years to follow the mandate of the PRC Modernization Act that required the profession licensing agency to go digital, according to Villanueva in remarks made during his co-sponsorship speech for the proposed Teacher Education Excellence Act.
“Last night, the PRC postponed the LET for the fourth time in NCR, Lucena, Romblon, and Butuan, only seven days before the scheduled examination this coming Sunday, September 26, 2021,” said Villanueva, chair of the Senate labor committee.
“The postponements and cancellations have been going on for almost two years now,” he said.
“Let me stress that we understand the health risks of conducting board examinations,” Villanueva said.
He said he also knows that the PRC depends on the decision of the Inter Agency Task Force on Emerging Diseases (IATF) for the schedules of board examinations.
But Villanueva said there are decisions and actions made by the PRC which are baffling.
PRC would announce exam schedules in advance, or at least eight months ahead in the case of the September 2021 LET, only to cancel these a few days before the exam date, he said.
“Paasa. ‘Yan po ang description sa PRC ngayon ng ating mga kababayan. Ang problema, hindi lang naman po kumukuyakoy na naghihintay sa bahay ang mga examinees. Nagbabayad po ang mga ‘yan sa mga review centers, hindi pa kasali ang non-refundable P900 application fee nila sa PRC, at higit sa lahat hindi sila makapag-apply ng trabaho dahil wala silang mga lisensiya,” Villanueva said.
“The PRC seems to lack humane consideration,” Villanueva said.
Aside from this, Villanueva said PRC has a long list of requirements for those taking the board exams: 14-day quarantine certificate, a medical certificate, and negative RT-PCR test results paid for by examinees.
“Last night, the PRC postponed the LET for the fourth time in NCR, Lucena, Romblon, and Butuan, only seven days before the scheduled examination this coming Sunday, September 26, 2021.”
“In the case of LET, many have already been undergoing quarantine when the PRC announced cancellation last night,” he said. “It’s too unfortunate for examinees who even took a leave of absence from work.”
“The notorious cancellations of board exam schedules have been going on for two years now,” he said. “Out of the 101 board exams scheduled this year, only 24 pushed through,” Villanueva said.
“The PRC seems stuck in its old ways,” he said. He said he has been asking the commission to lay out plans in conducting board exams even during the pandemic.
The cancellations of board exams, he said, would not have been necessary had the PRC been implementing the mandate of the PRC Modernization Act, which requires the commission to shift to digital administration of exams.
“Unfortunately, all we hear from PRC is their plan to migrate their examinations online,” Villanueva said.
He said the PRC had written a letter last April 21 mentioning the plan. He said he was aware of limitations that prevent PRC from innovating in preparation for a pandemic normal.
“They have not given any proposal on how we can help them. There’s also nothing in their proposed budget for computerization of board exams,” Villanueva said.
“This is happening despite the PRC Modernization Act of 2000 which required PRC to fully computerize board examinations by the year 2003,” he said.
PRC has cancelled the LET for two years already. “This means our teacher graduates are also left hanging for two years and can’t look for jobs or get ranking in DepEd,” Villanueva said.
“Senior high school teachers also can’t renew contracts with DepEd and sorely need to take the LET,” he said. “For the record we raised this issue to PRC as early as March 15, 2021,” Villanueva said.
“The commission is just wait and see,” he said. “While our colleges and universities continue to churn out graduates through flexible learning, PRC is stuck in its old ways hindering employment for our fresh graduates.”
“Is the PRC not aware that the ‘new normal’ is already in our midst for two years now?” he said. “When will they realize that we can no longer return to the old ways?”