DepEd eyes 'greater gains' in next PISA results

The Department of Education (DepEd) is hoping the Philippines will get much better results in the next Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2025 after Filipino learners continued to fare poorly in the latest PISA results. 

In an episode of The Mangahas Interviews, DepEd deputy spokesperson Assistant Secretary Francis Bringas pointed out that Philippine education still made progress in the 2022 PISA despite it being “statistically insignificant.” 

“Kung makikita mo do’n sa latest PISA result, although statistically insignificant naman siya, umangat naman ‘yung scores natin sa math and reading. I mean, yes, math and reading except for science. Pero statistically nga insignificant ‘yan,” he said.

(Based on the latest PISA result, our scores in math and reading, except for science, went up. However, that is statistically insignificant.) 

“But we are looking at it positively as a step towards greater increase in the next PISA results,” he added. 

DepEd’s senior education program specialist and PISA focal person Alex Sucalit Jr. earlier said that the recent PISA results might have shown that the Philippines is about five to six years behind compared to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

The Philippines ranked in bottom ten among the 81 countries that participated in the study, indicating that Filipino learners continue to lag in mathematics, science, and reading. 

DepEd Undersecretary for Curriculum and Teaching Gina Gonong said that the Philippines will still participate in the next PISA that will be conducted in 2025, but said the DepEd is not expecting so much as the new K-10 curriculum is not yet fully implemented by then. 

She admitted that the Philippines may start being on par with other Southeast Asian countries by 2029 onwards. 

“We aim to be a top performer, but when it happens ‘yun ang tanong kasi 2025 is so short a time from now na maging top performer tayo. Usually ang impact niyan ay hindi naman ganon kabilis… Siguro makapantay tayo doon sa ibang Asian countries like Vietnam, Thailand, at Malaysia, I think that’s more realistic in the coming years maybe 2029 onwards,” Gonong previously said. 

(We aim to be a top performer, but when it happens is the question because 2025 is such a short time from now for us to be a top performer. Usually, the impact of that is not that fast... Maybe it’s more realistic to say that we can match that with other Asian countries like Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia in the coming years, maybe 2029 onwards.) 

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte also lamented the Philippines’ dismal performance on the 2022 PISA, saying that a collective effort must be made to address such a problem. 

This was echoed by Bringas, who said that education is affected by its environment. 

“PISA is telling us a complete picture of the educational system as affected by its environment. So [the lesson is] calling for a collective action so that we can reach the goals of the Philippines for better quality of education,” he said.