Solon wants PH to skip PISA evaluation

MANILA – Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Thursday recommended that the country skip the 2021 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) so that changes in the curriculum, which were introduced by the Department of Education (DepEd), can be well absorbed by students.

In an interview at the Senate, the chair of the Senate Committee on Basic Education said DepEd has just started to make reforms on the curriculum in the

K to 12 program aimed at enhancing the country’s quality of education.

“Dahil nag-umpisa pa lang ang mga repormang dapat gawin, this will take time. First, implementation, hindi sapat ang oras dahil ang next PISA is March next year. (Because needed reforms have just started, this will take time. First, the time for implementation is not enough as the next PISA is scheduled in March next year),” Gatchalian said after the hearing on how

the country fared during the 2018 PISA. PISA is a triennial study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development which evaluates 15-year-old’s proficiency level in reading comprehension, science, and mathematics. Results of the PISA in 2018 showed that the Philippines ranked lowest among 79 countries in reading comprehension and second-lowest in science and mathematics. Gatchalian said taking the test next year would just produce the same results since the new curriculum has not yet been absorbed by the students. To test if the new curriculum has been absorbed, he said students will be evaluated through the National Achievement Tests which is done annually.