“Can Secretary Angara hack it in his new post and speed up the reforms in the education sector?”
If the foundation of every state is the education of its youth, then the national government should be giving education the top priority it deserves. Not only in terms of allocating it the biggest budgetary outlay every year, we think, but also in ensuring that the youth have access to quality education at all levels.
Philippine education is in serious crisis, according to the World Bank. One in every four Grade 5 students does not have the reading and mathematics skills for Grade 2 or 3, and four in every five 15-year-old students do not understand basic mathematical concepts such as fractions and decimals. These should be mastered by fifth graders.
The Philippines took part in the Program for International Student Assessment (Pisa) for the first time in 2018, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2019 after a break of 16 years, and the first cycle of the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) in 2019.
Pisa assesses achievement and application of key knowledge and skills of 15-year-old students in reading, mathematics, and science. TIMSS gauges proficiency in mathematics and science at the fourth and eighth grades, while SEA-PLM evaluates reading, writing, and mathematical literacy, with an initial focus on Grade 5.
The Philippines was last in reading and second to last in science and mathematics among 79 countries in Pisa. In TIMSS, it ranked last in both mathematics and science among 58 countries in the fourth-grade assessment. In SEA-PLM, it was among the bottom half of the six countries in reading, mathematics, and writing literacy.
Across the three assessments, poor learning results were observed among students in the Philippines, with more than 80 percent of them falling below minimum levels of proficiency expected for their respective grades.
In all three assessments, the Philippines performed more poorly than nearly all other participating countries, ranking at or near the bottom in each learning area assessed.
These assessments revealed serious deficiencies in our education system. The national government cannot simply sweep this under the rug; it must face the issue squarely.
But change could be in the horizon. Under its new and possibly more competent management than the previous one, the Department of Education now led by Secretary Sonny Angara has begun earnest efforts to reform basic education in the country. DepEd has already created a task force that would supervise the improvement of Filipino students’ performance in the upcoming Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) exams in March 2025.
Angara has therefore directed the DepEd task force to give him weekly updates on the preparations for the nextPisa exams
Of the 1.9 million students from both public and private schools nationwide, only 7,000 students from 200 schools, based on Pisa’s own choosing, will take the Pisa exams.
There will be three stages for the Pisa exams’ preparation and planning. The first is to get students acquainted with Pisa-type exams so they can familiarize themselves with the questions. The DepEd has tapped some experts who can formulate “new Pisa-type questions” to prepare the students. By orienting them on the exam techniques, the students will not have to feel any pressure once they finally take the Pisa exams.
The second is to ask some of the successful students in the Pisa exams, especially those coming from Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Cordillera, to share their best practices for the test. The schools where the exams will be held will be known by January and the 7,000 participating students by February.
Once the DepEd finds out which schools will be holding the Pisa assessments, the agency will provide the students with their needs for the exams, such as computers, and form special sections and classes for them to prepare, as well as for the students to undergo a tutoring program for the Pisa test.
The DepEd will also provide each of the 7,000 examinees what they need. Angara likens the forthcoming tests as “like a championship game, we have to get them prepared.”
Can Secretary Angara hack it in his new post and speed up the reforms in the education sector? We certainly hope so. (Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)
