Philippines spotlights Korea teacher exchange

The Philippines' Department of Education has spent the past week tying one message to two separate events: overseas teacher exchanges are not being presented as symbolic trips, but as a training pipeline for classroom change. On May 28, DepEd said the Korea-Philippines Teacher Exchange Programme, or KPTEP, had produced personal and professional gains for Filipino teachers and linked those gains to new teaching practices in local schools. (deped.gov.ph) On May 30, Education Secretary Sonny Angara used a scholarships and exchange fair in Quezon City to argue that international exposure should be treated as an investment in the education system, not a perk for a few teachers. The framing matters because DepEd is pairing alumni testimony with a more formal recruitment and selection push. (deped.gov.ph) The agency said the exchange is a joint project with South Korea's Ministry of Education and the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding, and it has been running since 2012. DepEd also said it has moved to make scholarship selection more organized and transparent under Department Memorandum OULS-2026-18. ### How large is the Korea-Philippines teacher exchange? Since 2012, about 330 teachers have taken part in KPTEP, according to DepEd. The department said roughly 190 Filipino teachers have been sent to the Republic of Korea, while about 140 Korean teachers have been hosted in the Philippines. (deped.gov.ph) That makes the program large enough for DepEd to point to a visible alumni base rather than a single pilot cohort. In its May 28 release, the department said the program was designed to strengthen intercultural competence, deepen ties between the two countries and build education-sector cooperation. ### What exactly are Philippine officials saying teachers bring home? (deped.gov.ph) Education Secretary Sonny Angara said international programs help equip instructional leaders with "world-class competencies" that directly benefit learners. At the May 30 Teach Beyond Borders: Global Scholarships and Exchange Fair, he said teachers need global perspectives so they can bring "innovative practices back to our local classrooms." (deped.gov.ph) Assistant Secretary Jerome Buenviaje gave the operational version of that argument. He said scholarships give teachers access to training programs, graduate studies and international exposure, while the fair itself was set up as a one-stop venue to guide applicants through requirements, documents and partner offerings. (deped.gov.ph) ### Which teachers are DepEd using as proof? Raleigh Ojanola, a Master Teacher II from Koronadal National Comprehensive Senior High School in Region XII, was one of the teachers featured by DepEd. The department said Ojanola joined the program last year, represented Mindanao culture in South Korea and later created Project TULAY, a reading program that combines local reading materials with Global Citizenship Education concepts. (deped.gov.ph) Ma. Lourdes Rola, a Master Teacher II and a 2025 KPTEP scholar, was cited at the May 30 fair as another example. DepEd and SunStar said Rola told the event that the exchange changed how she viewed global citizenship and cultural understanding, part of a fireside chat in which alumni described changes in their teaching and leadership. (deped.gov.ph) ### Is DepEd treating exchange as a one-off success story or a repeatable model? The May 30 fair suggests DepEd wants to widen the funnel. The event at SEAMEO INNOTECH was presented as a way to give teachers easier access to overseas opportunities and to address what the department called a long-running problem: difficulty finding reliable scholarship information. (deped.gov.ph) A separate regional DepEd notice calling for nominations to the 2025 Korea-Philippines Teacher Exchange Programme shows the program is also embedded in a continuing administrative process, not just a communications campaign. ### What happens next for teachers who want in? (deped.gov.ph) DepEd said partner organizations staffed booths and presentations at the Quezon City fair to walk teachers through scholarship options, and officials said the selection process now runs under Department Memorandum OULS-2026-18. The department's recent releases indicate that future applicants will be routed through those scholarship and exchange channels as DepEd continues to promote overseas training opportunities. (region3.deped.gov.ph) (deped.gov.ph)