IMPROVING PISA PERFORMANCE
ROBILYN C. TOLENTINO
The Department of Education (DepEd) has been directed to continue efforts to improve the country’s performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
President Ferdinand Marcos wants DepEd to focus on improving teachers’ teaching quality and competency, nutrition, addressing campus bullying, and aiding teachers on specializations.
The President expressed belief in a 60-percent improvement in teaching quality if the educators are well taken cared of by the administration.
He also wants to update teachers’ know-how with regard to technology.
It was learned that the country recorded a two-point increase in Reading in PISA score; seven points in Math, but dropped by one point in Science.
A total of 7,193 15-year-old Filipino students from 188 schools, 106 divisions, and 16 regions, representing 83 percent of the total population of 15-year-old students in the country, completed the computer-based test.
The PISA, developed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), is designed to assess the extent to which students have acquired key knowledge and skills essential for full participation in social and economic life.
It is a triennial international comparative study that tests a 15-year-old’s ability in mathematics, reading, and science in real-world situations.
Some 81 countries and economies participated in PISA 2022, with some 690,000 students representing about 29 million 15-year-olds. The assessment was administered from March 2022 to May 2022 and results were released on December 5, 2023.
Meanwhile, the Department has vowed to strengthen programs in terms of bullying in coordination also with other agencies such as the DOH.
The agency also highlighted its school-based feeding program through coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Both agencies complement each other to ensure continuity. It starts with the food stamps for the families in addition to supplementary feeding program funded by the welfare agency.
Last year, the government allotted P5.6 billion for the school-based feeding program and augmented it to P11.7 billion this year. The increase in budget will allow the agency to carry out the feeding program throughout the year.
DepEd’s efforts to improve learner performance under the MATATAG Education Agenda include the implementation of the National Learning Recovery Program; pilot implementation of the MATATAG Curriculum; and enhancement of teacher wellbeing, such as strengthening professional development of teachers and school leaders, and removal of non-teaching tasks, hiring of administrative Officers.
Also part of the agenda are the creation of the Learner Rights Protection Office; and pushing for increased funds for the School Feeding Program, and providing strategic direction to Early Childhood Care and Development, the Literacy Coordinating Council, and Teacher Education Council.
Starting this month, the education department targets to implement Catch-up Fridays, which will allot time to improve the reading and writing skills of basic education learners.
DepEd also seeks to launch Digi-ed, a digital portal where teachers and students can access learning materials.
-oOoThe author is a Teacher I at Dolores Elementary School