DLSU board exams: Performance and expectations

A license to practice a certain profession is earned through taking board exams. In the Philippines, the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) serves as the agency responsible in the administration, implementation and enforcement of policies on the licensing of various professions.

The following are some of the regulated professions under the jurisdiction of the PRC: Accountancy, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Psychology, and Professional Teachers. These professions are the ones included for the expected careers of the graduates of programs offered in DLSU.

A board exam is a proof of one’s assessment of educational standards. According to the PRC, a board exam qualification allows people to develop into a certified professional with personal integrity and moral values and to become globally competitive.

DLSU has been generally above average in board exams. There are times when the University is placed on top, such as with the Engineering, Accountancy, and Teacher Licensure exams, although sometimes it manages just the average passing rate.

DLSU’s perspective on board exams

University President and Chancellor Br. Ricky Laguda, FSC says, “As much as possible, we want all our students to pass the entrance exams. This requires hard work and discipline on the part of the faculty as well as the students.”

With the release of the results of the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensure examinations last October, DLSU placed as the second top performing school with a 92.68 percent passing rate. When asked about this result, Br. Ricky considers it as an outlier. “If you look at the trend, we have been consistent in terms of being above the national average.  In the past 6 or 7 CPA board results, this is the first time it was not 100% percent,” he justifies.

College of Business Dean Dr. Maria Andrea L. Santiago says that the University is not primarily driven by competition with other educational institutions, but by the commitment to train its students to become successful.

Improvements and inconsistencies

In the November 2011 article of The LaSallian, the Gokongwei College of Engineering (GCOE) students were deemed as not performing well in board exams of PRC each year.

In the Electronics Engineering licensure examinations, the examination for Electronics and Communications Engineering (ECE) students, DLSU witnessed low passing rates from the years 2003-2010. For Chemical Engineering (CHE), data shows a significant drop in the passing rates in comparison to the 2006 results, when the college achieved a 100 percent passing rate; in 2007, the passing rate was 95 percent. The 2011 exam result shows that only 7 out of 20 Chemical Engineering students passed the board exam, which translates to a 35 percent passing rate.

However this year, there is a significant leap in the passing rates of the GCOE students. In Civil Engineering, DLSU gets a 98.46 percent passing rate while for the Mechanical Engineering, the University records a passing rate of 86.21 percent.  For Chemical Engineering and Electronics Engineering, DLSU gets an average passing rate of 69.57 percent and 58.46 percent respectively, which are entirely greater than the national passing rate which are 46.80 percent and 37.05 percent respectively.

The November 2013 Chemical Engineering licensure results recently come out and DLSU only got 33.33% passing percentage while for the Civil Engineering, 75.00% which is evidently lower than the previous rate (May 2013 boards) this  year.  Majority of the students took the test on the previous ones implying that generally, the performance of GCOE students are at the average to above average level even with lower rates this November.

Meanwhile, the University has been consistent with getting a 90 percent and above passing rate for teacher licensure exams. A 97.30 percent passing rate in the elementary Licensure Exam for Teachers (LET)  and even a 100 percent passing rate in secondary level are the results for the September 2013 LET recently released by PRC.

On the other hand, in the CPA licensure examinations this year, DLSU does not acquire the expected 100 percent passing rate as mentioned earlier. UP was hailed as the top performing school with a 98.81 percent passing rate. Over the years, DLSU has been at par with UP in the passing percentage in terms of CPA. Generally, both universities consistently have a 100 percent passing rate.

When asked about how COB faculty responds to this year’s slight decline in performance, Santiago says, “When they see there’s something wrong, they will find a way to improve. That’s a constant improvement. For example, like this, after each CPA result, they will see how we can improve.”

Factors affecting board exams

Santiago believes that the review classes in the University offered at the last term for accountancy majors are a beneficial factor that affects a student’s performance in the board exams.

On the other hand, the University’s accountancy program now consists of 12 terms, when it previously consisted of 11 terms. Students then have a number of terms that consist of 21 units, which could be “very taxing for a student,” says Santiago. Furthermore, she claims that the curriculum is continuously undergoing changes because it has no room for introducing new topics that are covered in the board exams.

Santiago adds that an assessment of possible improvements is conducted after each result of the accountancy board exams. “[The faculty] is a very close-knit group. They always collaborate,” she says.

How students prepare

The University also provides review classes in preparation and training the students for the board examinations. In the Chemical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering programs, there is a specific class that concentrates on reviewing for board exams. However, in the flowchart of the Civil Engineering program, review classes are not included.

Anthony Tang, a recent Mechanical Engineering board exam passer shares that the review classes provided by the University is not for free. When asked about how he prepared for the boards, he says, “Five months ahead in review school. Some do two rev classes. One in DLSU, other outside, but since most can’t afford to enroll in two classes, they usually go for the schools outside.”

When asked about which helped him the most, the review school or the overall education, Tang explains, “It would be both. Review is review, remind lang ng pinagdaanan. If yung foundations mo weak in the first place, mahirap mag catch up. Each day is a different topic, at kung ‘la kang alam sa isang topic, you’re really gonna fall behind in the reviews. Overall education is still particularly important.”

Czarina Hizon (V, CHE) says that student’s knowledge really matters for her and she will prepare for it by doing a group study review with friends and answer questions as many as they could to avoid making the same mistakes during the board exam. Kenneth Brizuela (V, CIV) also shares the same sentiments and adds that student’s passion is also important.  Both also feel glad that Chemical Engineering and Civil Engineering board exam passing rates for DLSU have improved this year.