18 December 2023

Sixteen (16) Overseas Filipinos in Cambodia successfully passed the September Philippine Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (LEPT) held in Bangkok, Thailand, showcasing Filipinos’ enhanced competencies in qualifying for better teaching positions internationally.

Out of these sixteen passers, six (6) have completed the Commission on Higher Education – Developing Global Filipino Teachers (CHED-DGFT) pilot program implemented through a Memorandum of Cooperation signed between CHED and the Philippine Embassy in Phnom Penh in October 2020 that seeks to equip, capacitate and enhance the competencies of Filipino teachers in Cambodia to qualify them for better teaching careers.

“The Commission congratulates the sixteen OFWs for their outstanding performance in the recent Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers in Bangkok, Thailand. I commend their hard work, dedication, and perseverance in pursuing their dreams. Their success is a testament to the quality of our internationalization initiative with Cambodia and the support of their families and friends,” De Vera said.

“We thank our Embassy in Phnom Penh for assuring that the DGFT program has reached all the 1,006 Filipino teachers who are not licensed professional teachers to enhance their competencies to qualify for better teaching positions and higher salaries in Cambodia. With our joint efforts, Filipino teachers are continuously flourishing in the Cambodian education system,” he added.

“Our Filipino teachers here in Cambodia are so happy that CHED is supporting their professionalization. They are sought after here in Cambodia as they don’t just teach and educate; they also nurture their students. Thank you to CHED for piloting the DGFT program in Cambodia,” said Philippine Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia, Maria Amelita C. Aquino.

With the success of the Developing Filipino Global Teachers program, De Vera vows to expand this program to Filipinos in other parts of the world.

“After the successful pilot of the international DGFT program in Cambodia, the Commission will work with our Foreign Service Posts so that we can reach more overseas Filipino teachers,” De Vera said.

The Developing Global Filipino Teachers program, a collaboration between the Commission on Higher Education, the Philippine Embassy in Phnom Penh, and Philippine universities like Saint Paul University, Cebu Normal University, and Philippine Normal University, aims to assist overseas Filipino teachers in Cambodia, including professionals not graduating from the teacher education program, in-service teachers, graduates who have not passed the Philippine licensure examination, and TESOL teachers.

(SIGNED)
J. PROSPERO E. DE VERA III, DPA
Chairman
Commission on Higher Education
Philippines