MANILA – Following the poor performance of Filipino students in a global reading comprehension assessment, President Rodrigo Duterte approved a review mechanism for the K to 12 program.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the President expressed his support on Department of Education’s “Sulong EduKALIDAD” program during a recent Cabinet meeting.
The “Sulong EduKALIDAD” aims to review and update the K-to-12 curriculum, improve the learning environment in schools, “up-skill” and retool teachers, and engage stakeholders for support and collaboration.
According to Panelo, Education secretary Leonor Briones explained her department was already expecting an “unfavorable” result on the global reading comprehension assessment as she emphasized that Manila’s participation was geared towards the establishment of a baseline to measure the development of education in the Philippines.
“In this way, per Secretary Briones, they would be able to evaluate the results and implement corrective measures to address the deficiency of our education system,” Panelo said.
Filipino students ranked last among 79 countries in a global survey of reading comprehension conducted by Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2018.
Over 600,000 students around the age of 15 from 79 different countries joined the reading assessment.
Filipino students got a rating of 340 points, lower than the average 487 points.
Majority of Filipinos aged 15 are in Grade 9./PN
