Top university officials from member institutions of the National Network of Normal Schools (3NS) convened for a two-day meeting on May 24 to 24, 2023 at the Kingsford Hotel Manila in Parañaque City. Graced by the Presidents, Vice Presidents for Academic Affairs, and Deans of the leading Colleges of Education in the country, the event witnessed the continuous collaboration of the premier teacher education institutions (TEI) geared at a synergistic action toward the development of Filipino teachers and school leaders.

Hosted by the Philippine Normal University, the Network’s Lead Convenor, the meeting furthered the partnership of the ten (10) universities as they came up with productive agreements on the specified set of agenda aimed at mitigating the current challenges surfaced by the pandemic. One of these items is the proposed 3NS engagement with the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) on the conduct of commissioned research projects to shed light on issues related to teacher/ pre-service education and in-service training & development.

Initial discussions were conducted and strategic ways forward were recommended to address identified research issues which include among others, alignment of CHED, PRC & DepEd policies and frameworks on teacher education, gaps in pre-service training, licensing for teachers, development of teachers & school heads, and teacher welfare. Data to be gathered from these commissioned projects will be utilized to inform policymaking and education developments “with the end in view of making the Philippines globally competitive in both education and labor markets.”

Along with providing vital big data-informed inputs to EDCOM II, 3NS also accepted the challenge presented by the Department of Education (DepEd) in its MATATAG Agenda, particularly in its critical initiatives to “Give support to teachers to teach better.”  DepEd, through its training arm, the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP), represented in the meeting by the Officer-in-Charge of the Office of the Director IV, Dr. Jennifer E. Lopez, has engaged 3NS member institutions, as well as the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), in the design, development, and implementation of a high-quality professional development (PD) program for K to 3 teachers on literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional learning.

Anchored on identified priority strands of the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST), the National Literacy and Numeracy Training program is concentrated on creative pedagogies, set to be delivered to more than 120, 000 public school teachers during the in-service training (INSET) period in July and further cascaded via Learning Action Cell (LAC) sessions. Integral to the immediate next steps after the meeting is the convening of technical working groups (TWG) composed of representatives from each 3NS institution to harmonize the planning and implementation of the program among the member universities that DepEd-NEAP engaged for the training program.

In his message to the participants, Dr. Bert J. Tuga emphasized the still looming challenges of the education sector that require the support of 3NS. “Admittedly, we still have a great deal of work ahead of us! To work together for teacher education entails the active partnership among 3NS member universities, which will propel this Network forward in a harmonized action toward the development of teachers and school leaders, whom we educate to be inclusive, resilient, and future-ready.”

Composed of universities that pledged themselves twelve years ago to the promotion of quality teacher education, the members of 3NS include Bicol University, Bukidnon State University, Cebu Normal University, Leyte Normal University, Mariano Marcos State University, Palawan State University, Pangasinan State University, Philippine Normal University, West Visayas State University, and Western Mindanao State University.  Also present in the meeting were Director Leah B. Apao and representatives from NEAP’s Professional Development Division (PDD) led by the OIC Ms. Anna Marie B. San Diego.