DepEd eyes English as medium in teaching

on Tuesday said it was looking into English as the medium of instruction in schools, especially at the primary level, after the country’s dismal performance in a global survey.

The Philippines was ranked the lowest in reading comprehension and second lowest in science and mathematics among 79 countries in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

The Organization for Economic Coop

around 600,000 15-year old students in 79 through 2018 PISA.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones noted that the country’s laws require

- guage or mother tongue until Grade 3, while other Asian countries such as Singapore use English as the medium of instruction in the early grade levels.

English is introduced as a medium of instruction in the Philippines starting to continue the ‘mother tongue’ policy while there are also those who say that we should start with English since English is the language of the rest of the

Briones said in an interview over ABS CBN News Channel.

the mother tongue because the mother tongue is very helpful for the child in adjusting to school, separation from the parents, from the family, it

she added.

Briones also said the poor performance of Filipino students in the

in improving the country’s educational system.

in response to the rapidly changing learning environment of present and future learners and to introduce aggressive reforms to globalize the quality of basic education in the country.

Briones also agreed that poverty and hunger played a big factor in the country’s dismal performance in the 2018 PISA.

She said the countries that were at the bottom of the chart of performances often have high levels of poverty and hunger.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan had attributed the low ranking of the Philippines in the 2018 PISA to hunger among Filipino children, a point that

agreed with.

- sive use of electronic devices among the young, saying that these could gravely affect a child’s intellectual development as these lessen the time spent for studying.

Briones also noted that nutrition and hunger are linked to learning capacity.

to improve our statistics, our numbers to reduce the level of hunger and poverty in the Philippines otherwise, the capacity of our learners to absorb learning on a glob

she said.