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| The examination started shortly after 8am last Sunday at the OFW Global Centre |
A total of 535 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) took the Special Professional Licensure Examination for Teachers held at the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Global Center in Admiralty on Sept. 21.
The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) in the Philippines administered the SPLE simultaneously in Hong Kong, Thailand and across various testing centers in the Philippines. A similar examination was held in June this year in the Middle East, Singapore and Taiwan.
It was the first time that the SPLE was held in Hong Kong again since 2019, after pro-democracy protests and the Covid-19 pandemic halted it. Since then, the Filipino Overseas Professional Teachers (FOPT) in Hong Kong had lobbied to have it administered here again.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
FOPT president Gemma Lauraya said the examination for both elementary and high school teachers which began shortly after 8am went on without a hitch.
However, a number of would-be examinees showed up without the required Notice of Admission (NOA), which was a pre-requisite to taking the examination. Most of them did not know that they had to secure the NOA before being allowed to sit the exam, while some did not get the certified true copy of their documents in time to secure the clearance.
A week before the SPLE, a delegation from the Professional Regulation Commission came to oversee final preparations and check the original copies of documents submitted online by the test applicants so they could be issued NOAs.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
Lauraya said her group
is looking forward to a higher pass rate for the HK examinees, as it is not easy
juggling domestic work and reviewing for the examination. The last time the
SPLE was held here, the pass rate for HK examinees was a mere 13%.
Things are looking up for, however, as HK OFW Ma Adoracion R. Octavio who took the June SPLE in Taiwan placed second overall, securing an average grade of 89.20%.
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| Long before the OFW Center opened for registration, the examinees had already lined up |
Officers at the Philippine Consulate have always encouraged OFWs
with a degree in education to take the SPLE here, especially if they wish to
return home and teach.
If they pass, they can apply for placement in a public school in
the Philippines under the “Sa Pinas, Ikaw ang Ma’am, Sir” (SPIMS), a
reintegration project for OFWs which is now administered by the Department of
Migrant Workers.
The DMW’s Migrant Workers Office and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration offices in HK collaborated with the Philippine Consulate General and the PRC in administering test.
The FOPT provided administrative support and co-organized free review sessions provided earlier by the Carl Balita Review Center.
