While it continues to receive criticisms on the state of Philippine education following a report released by the World Bank highlighting the poor learning outcomes of Filipino students, Education Secretary Leonor Briones assured that reform initiatives are being undertaken by the Department of Education (DepEd).
“I assure our parents and learners that we are addressing the challenge of quality in basic education,” Briones said in a statement issued July 5. “I identified this as our biggest reform challenge as soon as I assumed the position of Secretary,” she added.
DepEd was once again under the spotlight after a report released by the World Bank cited that more than 80 percent of Filipino learners “do not know what they should know.” This, DepEd said, may no longer be the case since the World Bank used “old data” in its report.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2021/07/05/briones-world-bank-inadvertently-inflicts-harm-on-deped-ph-govt-by-releasing-outdated-report/
“Our reform initiatives in the curriculum, the learning environment, and teacher professional development are all ongoing,” Briones said.
With the help of a consortium of partners, Briones said that DepEd is also preparing a “comprehensive professional development program on assessment” with focus on emerging literacies measured at the international level.
DepEd, she added, is also preparing the Basic Education Development Plan for 2022-2030. “Our partners in education reform know these,” Briones said.
Being a lender for major reform programs, Briones said that the World Bank has been a partner of DepEd.
Among these programs include the USD100 million Program for Decentralized Educational Development (PRODED) from 1981 to 1986, the USD113 million Third Elementary Education Project (TEEDP) from 1997 to 2006, the USD200 million National Program Support for Basic Education (NPSBE) from 2006 to 2011, and more recently, the USD300 million Learning Equity and Accountability Program Support (LEAPS) from 2014 to 2018.
Briones noted that World Bank, itself, acknowledged in its report that “the Philippines’ recent participation in three cross-national large-scale assessments presents a great opportunity to understand the state of basic education and guide the country in pursuing critical reforms needed to enhance the education system.”
Joining international assessments, Briones said, is “critical to understanding what we need to address” and the World Bank itself acknowledged this.
“The results of these assessments are available for all to study and analyze,” Briones said. “But for those who represent themselves to be true partners of DepEd in education reform, we hope that such studies are fair,” she added.
The World Bank Report focused on the poor performance of Filipino children in three international assessments that DepEd joined in 2018 and 2019.
Since then, Briones said that DepEd has initiated reforms strongly supported and financed by the government, local partners, country partners and multilaterals.
A loan agreement for a major program to address teacher upskilling (Teacher Effectiveness and Competencies Enhancement Project or TEACEP) is being negotiated with the World Bank itself. “These developments are not mentioned at all in the report,” Briones noted.
RELATED STORY:
https://mb.com.ph/2021/07/05/after-ph-was-insulted-and-shamed-deped-demands-public-apology-from-the-world-bank/