By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
The result of the latest Licensure Examination for Agriculturists conducted last Nov 20-22, 2023 came out last Dec. 4, 2023.
The Benguet State University, as usual, emerged as one of the best performing schools. Only 3,423 out of 10,014 examinees passed the exam for a very low 34.18% passing rate.
In this exam, no BSU graduate crashed the top 10, unlike in some earlier editions. I would say however, that the university showed very good statistics vis-à-vis the exam.
Out of the 127 public and private schools (some actually are campuses of the same school) that sent examinees, BSU-La Trinidad ranked number 7 overall among schools with at least 50 passers and at least 50% passing rate. The BSU average passing rate was only 50.21% but it was at least 16 percentage higher than the national average; and only a few schools reached this.
Maybe the exams were more difficult this time compared to previous ones. UPLB is still in a class of its own. It is the only one that garnered almost 100% passing rate for those with at least 50 passers, as only one of its 102 examinees failed. Using the same yardstick, no school actually obtained 70% or more passers. Here are the average passing rate of the best 7 schools: 1. UPLB-99.02%, (101 of 102); 2. CLSU-69.16%, (148 of 214); 3. MSU Gen San-63.43%, (85 of 134); 4. Mindoro S.U. – 63.43%, (85 of 134); 5. VSU-52.94%, (117 of 221); 6. MMSU-51.24%, (62 of 121); 7. BSU – 50.21% (118 of 235).
As to the number of passers, BSU (118)produced the 2nd highest number of professional agriculturists topped only by CLSU (148). The school produced more passers than UPLB. That is to say, that BSU is on tributing to the pool of licensed agriculturists more than the others except one. This is something that must be taken into consideration when evaluating performance of schools in LEA.
In total number of examinees. BSU (235) was 3rd. Only MSU Marawi (245) and CBSU (242) were higher than us. Again, this is another thing that must be in the equation for evaluation purposes. It means that the university is one of the three best schools that probably has the most attractive agriculture program in the country.
The university had consistently performed that way, since the first LEA was instituted in 2001. I happened to be the BSU-CA dean that time. With the above, the university is undoubtedly one of the top 5 schools in the Philippines offering undergraduate agricultural courses. It has to be given the necessary attention by the national and even the local governments to further improve its agricultural programs.
About a couple of days ago, the officers of the Philippine Agriculturists Association (where LEA passers become automatic members) came out with an announcement that the professionalization of agriculturist should be taken to a higher degree. They lament the fact that “despite the licensing of agriculturists in the country, the agriculture profession does not have a particular enabling law or charter unlike other professions regulated by the PRC. Instead, the agriculture profession remains to operate under a mere administrative issuance in its professionalization.”
They took a bolder move by meeting on Dec 12, 2023 with House Committee on Civil Service and Professional Regulation Chairperson and Bohol 3rd District Representative Kristine Alexie Besas-Tutor, together with were Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) Commissioner Erwin M. Enad, and Professional Regulatory Board (PRB) of Agriculture Chairperson Emma K. Sales, Dr. Annabelle Sarabia, and Dr. Eric Palacpac, to discuss the revised Philippine Agriculturist Bill.
The result was the filing of HB No. 9725 by Rep. Besas-Tutor entitled, “An act regulating the practice of the agriculture profession in the Philippines, creating for the purpose a professional regulatory board for agriculturists, and appropriating funds therefore.”
Among others, the Bill “underscores the importance of hiring only registered agriculturists to occupy technical plantilla positions in provincial, city, and municipal agriculturists’ offices”. This also covers all agriculture technical positions which require the professional expertise of a Registered Agriculturist as deemed necessary by the Board. Because of the technical requirements to fill such positions, it recommends that the minimum base pay of Registered Agriculturists working in the government, including State Colleges and Universities (SUCs), shall not be lower than Salary Grade 13”.
The draft of the Bill had been circulated earlier to other Professional Regulatory Boards for comments. They did not pose any objections.
The approval of the will be considered “as one of PAA’s accomplishments in its undertaking to contribute to the improvement and mainstreaming of policies, rules and regulations, and legislative orders to significantly improve the agriculture profession and the agriculture sector in the country. It is also a serious reiteration of the previous initiatives of PAA to advance agriculture as a profession through legislation”.
It is clear that the Bill’s approval will also spotlight the number of examinees that will pass LEA as a very important consideration. To me it is even more relevant than the percentage of passing. U.P. for example, has a very strict entrance requirement insisting that only a certain percentage of the best students in a school may take their entrance exams. Naturally, one will expect that all of them, in fact, will pass the LEA. Other schools like BSU do not have such luxury, ergo, one would expect that a number of their examinees will fail in their first attempts.
That many of them pass the exams is a testament of the school’s good standard, the credibility of the teachers, the administration’s will and strong support to the agriculture program, and of course the student’s capacity to learn.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERY ONE.
