Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics - IEA

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TEACHER PAY AND STUDENT MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT
Philippines
Composition of the teacher labor force
Total primary and secondary school enrollments in the Philippines reached 12.1 million
and 5.0 million during 2003 and 2004 respectively. The corresponding numbers of
public primary and secondary school teachers numbered 337,597 and 120,685, with an
additional 70,066 teachers in private institutions (Department of Education, 2009). In
1991, almost all teachers in basic education were female, but by 2004 the proportions of
female primary and secondary school teachers had dropped to just over 89% and just
under 76% respectively.
According to the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics (BLES) (2003), the size of
the teacher labor force has been relatively stable in recent years, with a net increase of
approximately 70,000 teachers from 1991 to 2000. With more than 35,000 new teacher
education graduates over each year of this period, and a slight, concurrent increase
in the student–teacher ratio (BLES, 2003), one might assume a substantial surplus of
primary and secondary school teachers. In fact, estimates suggest that around 30% of
teacher education degree-holders work outside of teaching (BLES, 2003).
In 1997, the Commission on Higher Education noted that about 25% of high school
students who had passed the national college entrance examination wanted to become
teachers, and that about 71% of teacher education program entrants actually completed
their degrees (Agarao-Fernandez & Guzman, 2005). Also, about two-thirds of entrants
at the time studied to become primary school teachers, while the other third entered
secondary school teaching programs. Since the 1970s, the teaching profession has
become associated with relatively low earnings and social status, and teacher education
programs are consequently thought to attract academically weaker students (Agarao-
Fernandez & Guzman, 2005; Bautista, 2003).
Because of the social and economic disadvantages associated with the teaching
profession, some commentators posit that many individuals with teaching degrees are
reluctant to enter teaching (see, for example, Agarao-Fernandez & Guzman, 2005).
Although the Philippines has a relatively old teaching force, with 43% of primary
school teachers 50 years of age or over and nearly 127,000 primary and secondary
school teachers possibly retiring in the next few years, the school system may still have
difficulty attracting a sufficient number of qualified teachers to fill those places (Agarao-
Fernandez & Guzman, 2005; UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2006).
Mathematics education and science education, for example, have been served
particularly poorly in recent years, mainly because of significant shortages of qualified
teachers. The most recently available data suggest that only about 1.5% of secondary
education degree holders have science or mathematics as their majors (Agarao-Fernandez
& Guzman, 2005). The current pool of physics and chemistry teachers in particular
possesses few individuals who majored in physics or chemistry; as a consequence, these
subjects tend to be taught in a rote or boring manner (Somerset and colleagues, cited in
Agarao-Fernandez & Guzman, 2005). Rather than experiencing an integrated program
for science instruction, the few students who want to become physics teachers usually
enroll in the regular college physics sequence and add on general teaching methods
courses (van den Berg, Locaylocay, & Gallos, 2006). Many mathematics teachers who are
graduates of non-education degree programs that include at least five college subjects