MANILA — The Department of Education has stated that it does not expect high marks in the upcoming Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results, in which the Philippines previously ranked last in terms of reading comprehension.
DepEd Spokesperson Michael Poa said that, ahead of the release of the PISA 2022 results next month, they have asked to realign the proposed P150 million in confidential funds to the National Learning Recovery Program (NLRP) to improve students’ skills in reading, mathematics, and science — subjects covered by PISA and other global assessments.
The Philippines just participated in PISA’s worldwide assessments of students’ competencies for the first time in 2018, ranking last among 79 nations in reading and second-worst in science and math. PISA has been conducting assessments of students’ competencies since 2000.
“To be honest, we’re not expecting good results. So right now, we’re really focused in learning recovery. And that is why we requested that if there were realignments to be made, it should be realigned to the NLRP,” Poa said in an interview with CNN Philippines’ The Source.
DepEd made the same request in the agency’s budget hearing at the Senate last week, saying that any transfer of its proposed confidential funds should go to the NLRP “because we do not expect good scores for the 2022 PISA results coming out this December,” according to a DepEd statement.
Senators initially eyed realigning DepEd’s proposed P150 million in confidential funds to the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) program — the country’s largest private school scholarship program.
DepEd’s GASTPE subsidies aim to “decongest” public schools by issuing vouchers to eligible public school students to subsidize their tuition fees in private schools.
Poa said that while there has been a deficit in DepEd’s funds for GASTPE, initial talks with senators indicate that DepEd “has been given a P1 billion additional funding for the voucher program,” Poa said.
Poa added that the National Learning Camp – an end-of-year “learning recovery” program partially rolled out in July – is not covered by the National Expenditure Program for 2023 because it was not yet created during last year’s budget proposals.
With P4 billion allocated for the NLRP in 2024, which the National Learning Camp is under, there may be a need for more funding “depending on the number of participants,” Poa added.
“When we talk about realignments, we need to look at where it would have the most impact,” Poa said.
While the Senate has already approved the budget of the DepEd, its final provisions — including where the P150 million figure will be realigned to — will depend on the bicameral conference between the Senate and the House of Representatives.
DepEd this year rolled out three new national programs focused on providing students additional learning in mathematics, science and reading.
The DepEd Order outlining these programs as part of the NLRP cited the Philippines’ weak performance in PISA and other international assessments.
The findings of the 2018 PISA prompted the DepEd under then-DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones at the time to shift its focus from widening access to education to improving its quality.
Dubbed the “Sulong Edukalidad” program, DepEd aimed to raise the standard of basic education in the Philippines through a number of initiatives, including a review of the K–12 curriculum, facility upgrades, and skill development for school administrators and teachers.
To investigate how Filipino students can do better on global learning exams, DepEd has established a technical working group for large-scale international assessments.
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic pushed school closures and a sudden shift to distance learning, disrupting DepEd’s shift from access to quality.
On December 5, PISA is scheduled to disclose the 2022 scores for all participating nations.
