The Department of Education (DepEd) said Filipino teachers who participated in the Korea–Philippines Teacher Exchange Programme (KPTEP) are introducing new classroom practices and localized interventions after short-term deployments in South Korea.

The program, run jointly by the Department of Education (Philippines), the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea, and the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU), has been in place since 2012 and has sent Filipino teachers to South Korea while hosting Korean educators in Philippine public schools.

“Through international cooperation programs like this, we are able to equip our instructional leaders with world-class competencies that directly benefit our learners,” said Education Secretary Sonny Angara.

He added that international cooperation programs “equip our instructional leaders with world-class competencies that directly benefit our learners.”

DepEd said the KPTEP remains a small but continuing initiative, with four Filipino teachers currently deployed in South Korea for the 2026 cycle.

Officials said lessons from returning cohorts are expected to be shared through in-service trainings and peer learning sessions, though implementation across schools varies depending on local conditions and administrative capacity.

The agency said it continues to explore ways to integrate international exchange learnings into broader teacher development programs, particularly in literacy, global citizenship education, and instructional innovation.

About 330 educators have participated in the program so far, with roughly 190 Filipino teachers deployed to South Korea and about 140 Korean teachers assigned to Philippine schools since the exchange began, the agency said.