"DepEd better shape up."
"DepEd better shape up."
We should not take lightly the reported dismal performance of Filipino fourth graders in an international assessment of science and mathematics proficiency last year.
The Filipino students ranked lowest among 58 countries in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2019, in which the Philippines scored 297 in mathematics and 249 in science.
The study follows the four International Benchmarks to interpret the students’ performance: Advanced International Benchmark (625), High International Benchmark (550), Intermediate International Benchmark (475), and Low International Benchmark (400).
Compared to other participating countries, the Philippines’ scores are “significantly lower.”
I would say “shamefully very low.”
The abominable assessment results are a clear symptom of what ails the Philippines’ educational system, particularly its deterioration since the K-12 system was implemented seven years ago.
The Department of Education (DepEd) which gets the lion’s share of the national budget—P606.6 billion for 2021—should shape up once and for all.
The international assessment measured the competence in math and science of Grade 4 and Grade 8 students from 58 countries but the Philippines only participated in the assessment of fourth-grade students for the 2019 study.
I strongly believe the results would have been more horrendous if the assessment included English competence.
DepEd’s K-12 has made use of the “mother tongue” as the medium of instruction, deteriorating the students’ progress in English communication development.
Except for English and Pilipino classes, teachers and students have to speak in the local dialect in discussing the rest of the lessons.
Currently being used in the blended learning are error-filled modules are written in the supposed mother tongue which are not actually the local dialect.
Crafted by academicians from the country’s “Ivy League schools,” DepEd’s K-12 program is designed to produce job-ready skilled workers with vocational courses integrated into the curriculum that added two more years.
Most Filipino parents would say the additional two years merely aggravated their financial difficulties in getting their children through high school and pursuing higher education.
Impatiently and prematurely implemented after being enacted into law by the previous administration, the K-12 threw both public and private schools into chaos due to lack of teachers trained to teach the restructured courses.
The public schools, particularly, lacked the classrooms, facilities and equipment needed for hands-on instruction in skills courses.
It did not surprise me that the countries with the highest scores in the international assessment were among the countries I had mentioned previously to have the best basic educational system in the world. These include Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Finland and Norway.
And, these countries with the best primary education either do not have or offer the 11th and 12th Grade levels as “optional vocational courses” to those interested.
The DepEd’s budget should be more than enough to fix the country’s ailing basic education system, first by taking the initiative to abolish K-12.
