LAST week’s article drew attention to the Department of Education’s (DepEd) participation in international surveys to assess how the Philippines fares in the challenging world of comparing educational achievement in different countries.
A decade or so ago, the Philippines regularly took part in international surveys conducted annually by the United Nations Education and Scientific Organization (Unesco). These surveys found that the Philippines did not compare favorably with most countries in terms of achievements in English, Mathematics and Science. These surveys were conducted on 15-year-old students.
For several years, DepEd disengaged from the international comparisons. Finally, in 2018, DepEd rejoined the international community which performed a comparison on Grade 4 students. Again, this showed that we had much room for improvement if we are to be globally competitive.
In February 2019, Filipino students in Grade 5 performed poorly in an assessment conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) on reading, mathematical and writing literacy among five countries in Southeast Asia. Reacting to the findings, DepEd has vowed to act on gaps in the Philippines basic education curriculum as students transition into secondary education. I believe that the curriculum itself is satisfactory but that somehow the delivery mechanism is not working well.
The recent surveys involving grade school students shows that the problems arise early on. In the past, when surveys were carried out on 15-year-old students, it was not possible to eastablish when the problems arose.
Now we know that difficulties arise very early in a student’s career.
Sadly, we have to assert that, for many students, they are not learning anything in the classroom. This is clearly a top priority for DepEd which has suggested that teachers’ upskilling, and reskilling is a necessary area for improvement.
The pandemic has caused it to be necessary for stakeholders, particularly parents, to engage more actively with teachers in order to provide the necessary support and collaboration. I would like to take this opportunity to thank teachers who, via the internet, have engaged successfully in one-on-one dialogue with many of their students, often on a daily basis.
Nevertheless, if the Philippines is to become globally competitive in the world of education, more effective teaching must be implemented.
Otherwise, our educational inadequacies will become a permanent feature with a consequential loss of confidence in stakeholders’ assessment of DepEd’s effectiveness./PN
