Aligning Policy and Practice in Early Childhood Education: Strengthening Pre-Service Teacher Preparation in the Philippines
Synopsis
This policy brief examines the alignment between national Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) policies and the preparation of pre-service teachers in the Philippines. Drawing on a scoping review and qualitative data from 10 Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs), the study analyzes how policy frameworks are translated into curriculum design and field-based training. Findings show strong alignment at the level of curriculum. TEIs have aligned their Bachelor of Early Childhood Education (BECEd) programs with CHED CMO No. 76, the National Early Learning Framework (NELF), and DepEd standards. Developmentally appropriate, play-based, and inclusive pedagogies are widely integrated. However, this alignment is not consistently realized in practice. Preservice teachers have limited exposure to authentic early childhood settings, particularly for children aged 0–4, and depend on fragmented systems for field training. Critical structural gaps remain. The supply of qualified early childhood educators remains insufficient to meet national demand, with only 3,993 BECEd graduates produced since 2005, which is far below the workforce requirements indicated in DepEd reports, particularly for kindergarten and early childhood programs. Governance fragmentation across DepEd, DSWD, DOH, and the ECCD Council further constrains coordination and program delivery. This brief calls for policy reforms that move beyond alignment in design toward alignment in implementation, including the full operationalization and strengthening of the implementation of Republic Act No. 12199.
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