DepEd eyes better PISA results

THE DEPARTMENT of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday said it would form a task force that will seek to improve Filipino students’ performance in tests including the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

“One of our recommendations is to put up a Task Force for PISA exams specifically because we need to modify local conditions to be able to perform better in these exams,” Education Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara said in a post-state of the nation address forum.

Filipino students were among the world’s weakest in math, reading and science, according to the 2022 PISA. The Philippines ranked 77^th out of 81 countries and performed worse than the global average in all categories.

Fifteen-year-old Filipino students ranked 63^rd out of 64 countries in terms of creative thinking, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, citing the same report.

Mr. Angara cited the need to come up with short- and long-term strategies to tweak teaching in public schools, including 30-minute reading periods in between classes.

“In the short term, to possess these skills, we are injecting some periods in the everyday curriculum for reading to strengthen the foundations of literacy and numeracy,” he said.

“We’re supplementing current initiatives like catch-up Fridays with a focus on science projects because the focus on the coming 2025 PISA exam is going to deal with science,” he added.

In his third State of the Nation Address on Monday, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. Said the national learning recovery program should proceed “without the slightest disruption, especially in basic education.”

“Our system of education must be strategically calibrated to make sure that our youth are not only taught to become literate, but it must also consciously develop them into problem-solvers and into critical thinkers — hungry for success, ready for the future.”

Mr. Angara said the Education department is working with three other agencies for the implementation of the expanded career progression system, which Mr. Marcos mentioned in his speech.

The other agencies are the Professional Regulatory Commission, Department of Budget and Management and Commission on Higher Education.

The career progression system should happen because “sometimes our teachers get pirated for better opportunities because it takes some time for them to be promoted.” “It is something that will encourage and incentivize our teachers,” he said.

“We expect to improve performance because of these innovations and developments, which the President has approved,” he added. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza