The Philippine Educators Alliance for Community Empowerment (PEACE) Party-list has welcomed the Department of Education’s move to participate in the 2022 cycle of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
“This is the correct approach. Rather than attacking the Pisa for its assessment, what we must do is work towards identifying the problems hounding our education sector and objectively evaluating whether our solutions are addressing these issues,” PEACE PL president and first nominee Marie Paz T. Abante said.
Abante, a long-time educator, said that the PISA is a good complement to the country’s own assessment programs.
The DepEd said recently that the country’s participation in PISA is aligned with its ‘Sulong Edukalidad’ program.
“System assessments such as Pisa and DepEd’s National Achievement Test (NAT) provide the necessary feedback to inform policy decisions and reforms,” the agency said.
Last year, DepEd took issue with a World Bank report that said over 80 percent of Filipino students fall below the minimum proficiency levels.
The World Bank report was based on three assessment programs the Philippines participated in: the Pisa in 2018, the Trends in International Mathematical and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2019, and the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) in 2019.
The 2018 Pisa showed that the Philippines ranked second lowest out of 79 countries in both mathematical and scientific literacy.
Abante, a long-time educator, said that the PISA is a good complement to the country’s own assessment programs.
“There is value added in participating in external audits to ensure objectivity and fresh eyes. We could then dovetail both external and internal assessments in crafting programs to help solve our ongoing education crisis,” she said.
The DepEd said recently that the country’s participation in PISA is aligned with its ‘Sulong Edukalidad’ program.
She added, however, that participation in international assessment programs is not enough in solving the crisis.
“More importantly, our policy-makers and implementers have to use these assessments as guides so that we can target our response. Amid increasingly scarce resources, we cannot waste funds on programs and projects that serve no purpose, so these assessments would help ensure that we are putting money where it is needed,” said Abante.
