The Birth of PAFTE
The Philippine Association for Teacher Education (PAFTE) is a five-decade strong association of teachers and teacher educators which has been in the forefront of teacher education since its birth on January 30, 1968 and its registration with Securities and Exchange Commission on March 17, less than two months after its birth. Its incorporators were Dr. Cresencio Peralta, Dr. Norma Laconico, Dr. Francisca Roxas-Trinidad, Dr. Aurelio Elevazo and Atty. Ponciano B. Pineda. They served as the first Board of Directors, together with Dr. Amparo Lardizabal, Dean Manuel Gapuz, Dean Hilda Dizon, Dr. Edith Asis, Father Patrick o’Connor, SJ and Dean Gloria Santos.
PAFTE at the Forefront of Teacher Education
Through the years, PAFTE has ensured that teacher education in the country would not be at a standstill. The officers and members joined hands in setting up a united front in issues of change affecting teacher education. The programs and projects which the pioneer PAFTE leaders adopted escalated so fast that in 1987 PAFTE was able to identify capable colleges/institutes of education as centers of development for both pre-service and in-service. Always supportive of government goals, PAFTE was consulted by the Educational Commission (EDCOM) on matters of teacher education. PAFTE submitted a position paper to the EDCOM stating its favorable stand on the identification of centers of development for teacher education. This provided the baseline information for the enactment of R.A. 7784 also known as Higher Education Act of 1994, an Act to strengthen Teacher Education in the Philippines by Establishing Centers of Excellence, Creating a Teacher Education Council for the purpose.
Ahead of the EDCOM study, PAFTE conducted a capability survey based on a sample of 38% sampling of teacher education institutions offering both BEEd and BSEd, with the assistance of DECS (now DepEd), the Technical Panel for Teacher Education and the Fund for Assistance to Private Education. The results of the 1990 study and the criteria used by PAFTE in the identification of centers of development in teacher education served as information source in the initial identification of the centers of excellence and development in teacher education in the country. Significantly, the approval of the PAFTE’s general membership became one of the criteria in the identification of these centers of development.
PAFTE’s pacesetting for teacher education encompasses both pre-service and in-service teacher training. It is recognized by the Department of Education as its partner in curriculum and resource development for teacher education. It was represented in the Board for Professional Teachers and provided significant inputs for the improvement of the teachers’ board examination. It also played a lead role in the formulation of the competencies for the Licensure Examination for Teachers used by the first Board for Professional Teachers of the Professional Regulation Commission in 1996. PAFTE has been actively represented in the Technical Panel for Teacher Education by past PAFTE Presidents serving as chair or member. These are Dr. Rosita L. Navarro, Dr. Paz I. Lucido, Dr. Amor Q. de Torres and Dr. Brenda B. Corpuz. With its visible involvement in and substantial contribution to teacher education, the association gained the trust and confidence of the Fund for Assistance to Private Education (FAPE) more appropriately referred to as Philippine Education Assistance Committee (PEAC). PEAC gave financial assistance for the implementation of PAFTEs medium-term development programs from 1985-1995. PEAC continues to support PAFTE’s conventions.
PAFTE has been recognized by the Legislature as a close partner in the formulation of laws that relate to education particularly on the quality of the teaching profession and the strengthening of regulations governing the practice of teaching in the country. In 1993, President Navarro presented PAFTE’s reactions to Senate Bills 466 and 254. She proposed, among others, the adoption of PAFTE’s ladder-like model of professionalization/certification system, the strengthening of the criteria for the selection of centers of excellence for teacher education and legislation to increase the take-home pay of public and private school teachers.