Reduced NAT passing grade a cause for alarm, say ex-DepEd chief

Former Education Secretary Florencio Abad on Tuesday said the reduced average passing score in the National Achievement Test (NAT) given by the Department of Education to Grade 6 pupils last schoolyear is indeed a cause for concern. "(The DepEd) should be alarmed because what (the low average) means is the students in general have not achieved the minimum competencies expected from them," Abad said in an interview with GMA Network’s 24 Oras news program. He was reacting to a report by the DepEd before a hearing of the Senate education committee, which revealed that the passing score for graduating elementary school students was lowered to 66 percent from the usual 75 percent. The NAT is an exam given to Grade 6 students to gauge their basic knowledge in Mathematics, Science, English, Filipino and Makabayan. The revelation alarmed Sen. Manuel Roxas II, who wondered whether DepEd officials lowered the passing score to make it appear that the number of Grade 6 pupils passing was bigger than the actual figure. “You’ve created a world that all looks good, wonderful. We are fooling ourselves and the pupils by lowering the standards," an irate Roxas remarked during the hearing. Abad also speculated that "grade inflation" might be present, that the grades the students are given in their respective schools are too high that these "do not reflect their competency and deceives the students and their parents." DepEd Assistant Secretary Teresita Inciong explained that the NAT scores do not reflect the actual grades of the students who took the exam. She said the NAT scores were just a “gauge" to determine of the skills the pupils were improving. The department further added that the passing score remains at 75 percent. "Yung kanilang project, yung kanilang recitation, yung participation, lahat lahat na po kinukuha doon. Hindi basta isang test lang. Alam naman po natin na ang isang test lang ay hindi mo pwedeng basehan ng pinag-aralan ng bata," she said in a separate interview with 24 Oras. (Their projects, recitation and participation are all included in the grade given to them, and are not based on only one test. We know that we cannot base everything a child has learned on a single test.) Education Undersecretary Vilma Labrador told the Senate hearing that the pupils were improving in their mastery of basic education — from a mere 55 percent in 2007 to an average score of 66 percent in 2008. – Melissa de los Santos, GMANews.TV