Reforms in quality of education

Diana M. Iñigo

OUR country’s officials are now pushing for reforms in the quality of education and training of teachers in the country.

This is in light of the crisis the country is facing, which affects the education sector in more ways than one.

Also taken into consideration should be the observation of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019, which shows that students of the country are lagging behind when it comes to Science and Mathematics.

There is a need to reform the whole process of educating and training teachers from college education, obtaining licenses, and teaching in public schools, officials said, with public schools having about sixty percent of students. If the performance of public schools is not good, then whole country will be affected.

Using students' answers to some questions, TIMSS examines various aspects of teachers' teaching. This includes their ability to answer questions clearly, elaborate on lessons, take various steps for students to learn, and re-explain lessons that children do not fully understand.

According to TIMSS, only 48 percent of Grade 4 students said that teachers are able to teach Math with high clarity, while 37 percent said they were taught with "moderate clarity" and 15 percent said they were taught with "low clarity."

When it comes to Science, 48 percent also said that the subject was taught them very clearly, 36 percent said with moderate clarity, and 16 percent said with little clarity.

According to TIMSS, the clarity of instruction is associated with fluency in Math and Science. The Philippines scores are the lowest of the 58 countries that participated in the survey, it was learned.

The Department of Education (DepEd) supports the "upskilling" and "reskilling" of teachers and also allocates funds for the 2021 budget. With this, college training should be intensified.

The author is Teacher

--oOo-

III at Dolores National High School, Magalang, Pampanga