Imee proposes for special LEPT exams for 2021-2022 education graduates

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY -- Senator Imee Marcos who chairs the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs proposed to the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to hold the Licensure Examinations for Professional Teachers (LEPT) special exams for 2021 and 2022 graduates, instead of letting them wait until March 2023. 

The PRC and CSC should now work double-time to hold special exams for 2021 and 2022 graduates, instead of letting them wait until March 2023. An online version of the LEPT should also be done as soon as possible, Marcos said.

Marcos added that job creation and income relief were being delayed by the decision of the PRC and CSC to hold the exams only for degree holders in 2020 or earlier.

Marcos said that special exams be held for Education graduates barred from taking the licensure exams for teachers this June and in September. Her call for an online version of the LEPT more than a year ago fell on deaf ears, so this is the sad result, she noted.

Marcos pointed out that the Career Executive Service Board (CESB) and other professional regulatory boards have already been able to hold online exams, which could serve as templates for the LEPT.

Health safety restrictions last year forced the LEPT to be held in smaller batches, but Marcos said special exams are doable now that the pandemic has eased.

The senator warned that the backlog of examinees could worsen if special exams are not held this year and an online version of the LEPT is not ready for the graduates of 2023.