The Teacher Education Council (TEC) on Thursday launched a 10-year roadmap that will serve as a guide to design relevant, responsive, innovative, creative, and collaborative programs to advance teacher education in the Philippines.

The 2035 Teacher Education Roadmap seeks to empower teachers through scholarships, training, upskilling, and reskilling, as well as to address employment mismatch through a harmonized database.

In an ambush interview, TEC Office of the Secretariat Executive Director V Jennie Jocson said the roadmap aims to help “reshape and reframe” the specializations of teachers in line with their actual functions.

“Halimbawa, ang guro ay nag-specialize sa English sa kanyang Bachelor’s degree, pero sampung taon na siyang nagtuturo ng ibang asignatura, kailangan na siyang i-redirect sa bagong (For instance, the teacher specialized in English on her Bachelor’s degree, but the teacher has been teaching other subject, she must be redirected to that new) specialization,” she said.

Such mismatch, which has been identified nationwide, could be addressed through the upskilling and reskilling of practicing teachers, she added.

Established to improve and further strengthen the quality of teacher education in the country, TEC said priority areas with significant supply gaps are early childhood education, values education, and special needs and inclusive education.

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) recognizes the mismatch, which it said may be addressed through policy recommendations under the roadmap.

“One of them is really a shortage of Math and Science instructors, another is general shortage in our TVET (Technical-Vocational Education and Training) instructors, for example, which is quite crucial for me as part of TESDA,” TESDA Director General Jose Francisco Benitez said in a separate interview.

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) also expressed support for advancing the roadmap to improve teachers’ education nationwide.

In a speech, PRC Chairperson Charito Zamora said the inter-agency collaboration will ensure that teaching, training, and licensing will be aligned with the “evolving demands” of the Philippine education system.

“By identifying policy gaps and proposing reforms in teachers’ education, TEC sets the direction while the PRC works to implement these changes, particularly in licensure examinations,” she said.

Harmonized database

Besides upskilling and reskilling, the TEC said it will launch a harmonized database of supply and demand information next year.

“100 percent of the supply and demand data may be available by quarter two of 2026,” Jocson said.

She noted that a consolidation of supply and demand data from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Department of Education (DepEd) will help address mismatch and duplication.

“Iminapa namin ngayon kung nasaan ba ang mga Teacher Education Institutions. Ano ang kanilang mga programa (We have now mapped out where are the Teacher Education Institutions. What are their programs)?” Jocson said.

“Nakakakita tayo ng duplication ng mga programa at mainit ang pakikipag-usap natin sa CHED para siguruhin na hindi magkakaroon ng (We are seeing duplication of programs and we are in close discussion with CHED to ensure that there will be no more) duplication.”

To date, about 10 to 15 percent of the supply data has already been completed.

TEC also highlighted that the 2035 roadmap will advance “alternative pathways” for other qualified professionals to enter the teaching industry.

These pathways include community development workers and two-year degree program holders. (PNA)