MANILA (UCAN): The Philippines ranked 75 pit of 81 nations in the latest edition of the Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA] that tests 15-year-old students’ knowledge of math, reading and science. The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] released the results on December 5.
“This can be attributed to the lack of substantive measures taken to address the fundamental challenges in the education sector in addition to the pandemic-related factors,” said Benjo Basas, who now acts as national chairperson of the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition [TDC], an advocacy group.
The Philippines posted the same ranking before the pandemic in 2018.
However, Basas said that problems in the education system in the Philippines “existed long before the pandemic,” attributing the low score to insufficient learning materials, overcrowded classrooms, socio-economic factors, and poor treatment of teachers.
“The failure of the Department of Education and the government to address the fundamental concerns is apparent” Basas noted.
The government needs to acknowledge that it has failed as it did not recognise the basic problems” and did not care for the dignity of teachers,
Benjo Basas
“The government needs to acknowledge that it has failed as it did not recognise the basic problems” and did not care for the dignity of teachers,” he said.
Teachers in the Philippines, numbering 900,000 out of more than 1.8 million government employees, are among the lowest paid, prompting them to seek green pastures abroad. There are over 1,484 Catholic schools in the country.
Monsignor Ramon Stephen Aguilos, former superintendent of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Palo in the central Philippines, said there were “multiple reasons that caused the dismal showing.”
Monsignor Aguilos said, “Needless to say, it reflects the true state of education in the Philippines,” adding that there are problems with the education department’s leadership, its culture and the budget.
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“We often hear that teachers with a nod from supervisors are lowering examination standards ‘to let students pass’” the monsignor said and pointed to rampant cheating in the examinations.
If these Asian countries can do it, why can’t we? We should also know why Vietnam outpaced the US in these metrics
Monsignor Aguilos
Monsignor Aguilos said that the Philippines should learn from Asian countries like Singapore, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea which occupied the top five slots in the PISA ranking.
“If these Asian countries can do it, why can’t we? We should also know why Vietnam outpaced the US in these metrics,” he said.
Dr. Rey Garnace, a former campus director of the popular state-run Philippine Science High School in the Eastern Visayas region, said that “more reading subjects should be included in the curriculum.”
Garnace, a former chief administrative officer at Leyte Normal University, said, “Every teacher should be a reading teacher.”
Parents are also worried about the prospects of their children due to the low ranking in the global education survey.
“What will happen to my child when he enters public school soon?” asked Julita who has a five-year-old son.
The PISA survey, the first such since the pandemic, revealed an “unprecedented” decline in academic progress in many countries.
