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DepEd: PHL joined PISA 2018 to establish baseline for improvement initiatives
The Department of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday welcomed the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) even though the Philippines ranked the lowest in reading comprehension out of 79 countries, citing that the country's participation in the assessment was a "brave move."
"Given the historical performance of our learners in the National Achievement Test (NAT), we expected that our learners will also not be able to perform well in PISA," DepEd spokesperson Annalyn Sevilla said in a statement.
"But by participating in PISA, we will be able to establish our baseline in relation to global standards, and benchmark the effectiveness of our reforms moving forward," she added.
Sevilla underscored that the DepEd took the courage to take the PISA exam although it uses a different approach in assessing the knowledge of the students compared to that of NAT.
"It's not the usual assessment that our students are taking. So what we have is a National Achievement Test na tina-transition pa lang natin doon sa K-12 curriculum," Sevilla told GMA News Online in a separate phone interview.
"The PISA exam uses application of the 21st century skills, ibig sabihin 'yung simple question ng PISA in formula or data will be related to application of skills like problem-solving, critical thinking, logical solutions," she added.
The Philippines also lagged behind in mathematics and science, ranking second to the lowest.
A total of 7,233 Filipino students from 188 public and private schools across the country took the OECD-administered exam in 2018. This was the first time that the Philippines took part in the PISA.
"Now that we know that we are at the bottom, then we have to check," Sevilla said.
She added that the PISA results will help DepEd's policy formulation, planning and programming.
The Philippine Business for Education (PBED) also lauded the Philippines' participation in PISA 2018.
"We fully support the Philippines' continued participation in international assessments, as these offer reliable and comparative metrics on how we can prepare our children to have a chance to succeed in an increasingly competitive world," the business community said in a statement.
It sees the country's low ranking as "an opportunity for all sectors to come together to take a hard look at the quality of Philippine education and to develop a collective action plan to improve the standards for teaching and learning."
The PBED urged the private sector, civil society, and the academe to collaborate in crafting "transformative solutions" to address the pressing challenges in the Philippine education system.
Shifting focus from access to quality
The results of the PISA reflect the urgency of improving the quality of basic education in the Philippines, Sevilla said.
In line with this, the DepEd launched its new campaign "“Sulong EduKalidad” to implement aggressive reforms in four key areas simplified as KITE:
- K to 12 curriculum review and updating
- Improvement of learning facilities
- Teachers and school heads’ upskilling and reskilling through a transformed professional development program
- Engagement of all stakeholders for support and collaboration
Gamification pedagogy
Now that students have more access to modern gadgets and tons of information in the Internet, Sevilla said that the Education Department is also doing its best to keep up by introducing the "gamification" concept in education.
"Learners learn more quickly and easier kung may game concept but the teacher has to know how to use it," she said,
"Ang bata kasi 'yung interest nila, because of technology, hindi na ngayon appealing ang pen and paper and ang blackboard and chalk. Technology has to be used in the 21st century skills eh papaano kung 'yung teacher mismo ayaw pang humawak ng computer? So may shift kami," she added. — RSJ, GMA News
