Several Grades 3 to 10 public school students of Makati City were commended by the city government for their achievement in topping the regional Test of Functional Academic Skills (TOFAS) administered by the Department of Education (DepEd) last February 20-24, 2023.
TOFAS is a free global online testing system designed to reveal learners’ fundamental and skill strengths and weaknesses, which can help educators in identifying gaps and planning the needed interventions.
Makati City Mayor Abby Binay said the students tallied the highest passing rates in Mathematics across all levels, making the Schools Division Office (SDO) Makati the first among 16 SDOs in the National Capital Region (NCR).
“Congratulations to our Proud Makatizen students for this latest achievement! Once again, you have proven that the city is on track in promoting academic excellence through substantial investments in programs aimed to continually raise the quality of our public education system,” Binay said.
SDO Makati said that a total of 41,546 Makati students from Grades 3 to 10 took the online test consisting of 100 multiple-choice questions that can be finished in 40 minutes on a desktop, tablet, or Android smartphone.
They were then tested on computational skills, which included decimals, fractions, integers, equations, polynomials, systems, and quadratic equations.
Binay explained that the information gathered from these tests will be used in creating interventions that are tailor-fit to the learners’ needs and abilities. She reiterated the city government’s firm commitment to quality education and continuing support for DepEd Makati’s programs, including the enhancement of the students’ numeracy skills performance.
The mayor said planned interventions include innovations in instructional practices of Math teachers aimed to get through students’ aversion to numbers and gain their interest in the subject, developing intensive learning activities and modern learning materials, and creating a localized and standardized numeracy assessment tool.
Binay said the city government has earmarked over P1 billion for Project FREE (Free Relevant and Excellent Education) and Students’ Competency Enrichment Program under SDO Makati from the Special Education Fund this year and added that it had also allocated over P140.7 million from the General Fund to programs implemented by the city Education Department, including the city’s college scholarship program, high school scholarship program, incentives for outstanding students and school year completers, and Special Education Program (SPED).
Binay expressed her gratitude to the officials of SDO Makati as well as all public school teachers in the city for displaying their dedication, innovation, and hard work in educating the youth.