Findings of the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released on Tuesday, Dec. 5, showed no significant improvements in the performance of Filipino students in mathematics, reading and science.

“Average 2022 results were about the same as in 2018 in mathematics, reading, and science,” the PISA 2022 results which were made accessible online.

This is the second time that the country joined PISA.

Based on the latest PISA results, over the most recent period or 2018 to 2022, the “gap between the highest-scoring students” or 10 percent with the highest scores, and the weakest students, or 10 percent with the lowest scores, “narrowed in mathematics, while it did not change significantly in reading and science.”

“In mathematics, low-achievers became stronger, while performance did not change significantly amongst high-achievers,” the report showed.

“Compared to 2018 the proportion of students scoring below a baseline level of proficiency (Level 2) did not change significantly in mathematics, reading and science,” the PISA 2022 results showed.

“Students in the Philippines scored less than the OECD average in mathematics, reading and science,” it added.

Moreover, the latest PISA result showed that a “smaller proportion” of students in the Philippines --- than on average across OECD countries --- were “top performers” or Level 5 or 6 in at least one subject.

“At the same time a smaller proportion of students than on average across OECD countries achieved a minimum level of proficiency (Level 2 or higher) in all three subjects,” it added.

Focus of PISA 2022

The PISA 2022 survey, as stated in the report, focused on mathematics, with reading and science as minor areas and creative thinking as the innovative area of assessment.

The latest PISA survey also included an “assessment of young people’s financial literacy, which was optional for countries and economies.”

The results for creative thinking and financial literacy in 2024, the report noted. 

As stated in the report, some 690,000 students took the assessment in 2022 --- representing about 29 million 15-year-olds in the schools of the 81 participating countries and economies.

In the Philippines, a total of 7,193 students in 188 schools completed the assessment in mathematics, reading or science.

For the assessment, the participants took two hour-long tests, each devoted to one subject.

As noted in the PISA report, different students were given different test questions and different combinations of subjects and the test items were a “mixture of multiple-choice questions and questions requiring students to construct their own responses.”

How did Filipino students fare?

In math, the 2022 PISA results showed that 16 percent of students “attained at least Level 2 proficiency” which is significantly “less than on average” across OECD countries at 69 percent.

“At a minimum, these students can interpret and recognize, without direct instructions, how a simple situation can be represented mathematically,” the survey results showed.

However, the 2022 PISA results also showed that “almost no students in the Philippines were top performers in mathematics.”

In reading, the latest PISA survey showed that some 24 percent of students in the Philippines attained Level 2 or higher in reading with the OECD average at 74 percent.

In the Philippines, the results showed that “almost no students scored” at Level 5 or higher in reading.

In science, some 23 percent of students in the Philippines attained Level 2 or higher with the OECD average at 76 percent. “Almost no students were top performers in science,” the report showed.

As a response to the 2022 PISA results for the Philippines, the Department of Education (DepEd) will hold a national forum where its officials will provide a detailed discussion on the latest findings.

READ: 
https://mb.com.ph/2023/12/5/how-did-ph-learners-fare-in-the-2022-pisa