An advocacy group on Wednesday, Dec. 6, said that the Philippines’ dismal ranking in the 2022 Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) for the second time was a “clear indication” that the education system is in its “worst state” and “much work” needs to be done.
“The poor performance of our learners is not just a problem of education alone, but our country as a whole,” said the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd).
PBEd issued the statement after the Department of Education (DepEd), in a national forum, presented the latest results of PISA which showed that Filipino students remained poor performers in mathematics, science, and reading.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2023/12/5/pisa-2022-no-significant-improvements-seen-in-ph-students-performance
For PBEd, the weaknesses in the basic education system will eventually translate into the weakness of the country’s workforce --- “affecting the productivity and key source of our economic growth and competitiveness.”
PBEd stressed that a “crisis of this magnitude” requires swift action and great effort from all sectors.
“As the voice of business in education reform, we hope to rally once more our partners in the industry, government, and academe to take action for education–through the window of opportunity that we have in the ongoing work of the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2),” PBEd said.
“Now more than ever, the PISA results show the dire need of Filipino learners of our full support,” PBEd stressed.
“The state of education in the Philippines demands immediate attention, collective effort, and a commitment to improvement so we can give our children the best learning experience that they deserve,” the group added.
Meanwhile, PBEd welcomed the country’s continuous participation in large-scale international learning assessments as this provides us measurement of the impact of the pandemic on learning.
“Efforts must also be made to use this assessment as guidance to improve our current situation and see the value of making data-driven decisions in education governance,” PBEd added.
While the PISA 2022 results showed that the performance of Filipino students in the three subject domains “remained stable” despite the Covid-19 pandemic, there were no significant improvements noted.
In math, reading, and science, the Philippines was ranked as among the lowest performers among the 81 countries under the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries.
In math, the Philippines is 76th. The OECD average is at Level 2 or a score of 472 but the Philippines’ average is at Level 1b or a score of 355.
In reading, the country ranked 79th. The OECD average is at Level 2 or a score of 476 but the Philippines is at Level 1a or a score of 347.
In science, the Philippines ranked 80th. The OECD average is at Level 3 or 485 score points but the Philippines is at Level 1a or a score of 356.
READ:
Despite this, DepEd remained hopeful that the learning outcomes of Filipino students will improve as it continues to implement education reforms under the current administration.
RELATED STORY: