60 OFWs in HK pass teachers' exam

Aspiring teachers during their exam last September. Sixty of them passed. 

UPDATED 30 Nov 2017

By Vir B. Lumicao

Sixty takers or 13% of a total of 460 who took the special Licensure Examination for Teachers in Hong Kong on Sept 24 have passed, with 52 of them aspiring high school teachers.

A Hong Kong-based OFW who took the exam in the Philippines also passed, her friends reported.  

Only eight or less than 4% of 215 who sat for the elementary teachers exam made the grade, according to results from all regions released on Nov 27 by the Professional Regulation Commission. 

The very low pass rate indicated that the exam for aspiring public elementary school teachers this year was very difficult, said Gemma Lauraya, president of the National Organization of Professional Teachers.

Lauraya said the poor result reflected a similar picture in the Middle East where only six out of 179 elementary-level takers passed.

Lauraya said an OFW based in Hong Kong who registered and took the exam in the Philippines had informed her that she passed the test. That brings to 61 the total number of passers from Hong Kong.

The LET passing percentage in Hong Kong this year was much better than the 9.77% recorded in the exams held at the Bayanihan Center on Sept 25 last year.

As in the past, PRC, a unit of the Department of Labor and Employment, administered the annual test to the Hong Kong and Macau-based examinees at the Delia Memorial School-Hip Wo campus in Kwun Tong.

One of the passers of the secondary-level exam was Cyrill Mariano, who traveled all the way from Macau to take the licensure exam in Kwun Tong.

Mariano and the 60 other passers can now look forward to joining the country’s public school system to catch the huge demand for teachers as the government’s Kindergarten to Grade 12, or K-12, program enters its final stage of implementation.

Education Undersecretary Jesus Mateo had said earlier that 81,000 new teachers’ posts would be added next school year to the country’s public school system.

Mateo, who spoke on Oct. 28 on the sidelines of a seminar for would-be teachers in Hong Kong, said the new positions would be on top of the 55,000 teachers added this school year, the fifth year of the K-12 program.

The LET passers from Hong Kong are:

Elementary

Banaag, Rina C.; Cataluna, Manilyn C.; Echevere, Mellie S.; Ignacio, Arlene C.; Maderazo, Daisy C.; Pandoy, Teresita M.; Solito, Janice P.; Tamot, Precy E.

Secondary

Adaggan, Glendalyn A.; Alegria, Arlyn A.; Amarillo, Erlyn B.; Amaro, Rosa M.; Arellano, Mary Jane A.; Attaban, Rose B.; Barcelona, Loradel C.; Baritua, Aphrodite Ellynne B.; Bascos, Beverly L.; Brazas, Grace P.; Baucas, Rowena C.; Camaddo, Jennifer B.; Castillo, Melody A.; Castor, Liezel P.; Cutaran, Lorena N.; Dallapas, Mary Jill K.; Dayag, Jemily L; Esteban, Gelan S.J.; Esplana, Lara V.; Jimenez, Terry Ann A.; Jimenez, Vanessa B.; Lagrio, Consolacion M.; Latorsa, Ma Cristina L.; Latumbo, Yakim S.; Legaspi, Kristine C.; Li-boon, Udemie C.; Marcelino, Mary Ann V; Mariano, Cyrill M.; Mateo, Felicidad S.; Medina, Norlina B.; Medrano, Babylyn P.; Milo, Marisa D.; Mula, Emilia G.; Novabos, Gideelyn S.; Paquibot, Ma Lourdes M.; Pasicolan, Mariel A.; Quizzagan, Pinky M.; Regalado, Eda Marie B.; Renojo, Christine T.; Reyes, Efraim M.; Sanchez, Kaye Colline V.; Sanchez, Sierramie A.; Semeniano, Arlene V.; Tubongbanua, Jemely A.; Solima, Rowena R.; Sudaria, Regina R.; Suposop, Lina T.; Tumampil, Jennifer T.; Uanang, Donabelle D.; Valenzuela, Rose S.; Villavecencio, Glendyl A.; Vinoya, Dizzy M.;