MANILA, Philippines?A 66-percent passing grade for public elementary pupils?

This was the average passing score in the National Achievement Test (NAT) administered by the Department of Education (DepEd) last year for Grade 6, officials told a Senate hearing Monday.

The revelation startled Sen. Mar Roxas, even though officials later said the mark was actually an improvement from the previous year.

In effect, the grade lowers the passing standard for the NAT for Grade 6 from 75 percent to 66 percent.

?So half of grade school graduates pass even with 66 percent average grade?? he asked, citing the annual report of the National Center for Testing and Research for schoolyear 2007 to 2008.

?You?ve created a world that all looks good, wonderful. We are fooling ourselves and the pupils by lowering the standards,? Roxas said.

This explains why college diplomas from Philippine schools are being ignored abroad, he added.

Education Undersecretary Vilma Labrador contended that other mitigating ?measures? were given to kids to be able to pass and move on to the next level.

She said the NAT was administered in January, three months before the end of schoolyear, so teachers could see the ?real condition of the educational system? and help in improving the academic skills of the pupils.

?The examination is given so that there is still time for intervention,? Labrador said. ?We?re doing our best.?

Just a ?gauge?

After the hearing, Labrador told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the NAT scores were just a ?gauge? to see if the skills of the pupils were improving, and were not the passing grade for graduation or entry into the next educational level.

In fact, she said, the kids were improving in their mastery of basic education in Math, Science, English, Filipino and Makabayan because from the measly 55 percent in the previous year, the average score was 66 percent in 2008.

The DepEd has set a target of achieving a score of 75 percent in two years, she said.

Paper diplomas

Unconvinced, Roxas pointed out the obvious to Deped.

?We have a problem because all of them (college graduates) had [gone through] elementary graduation, but we are fooling ourselves that they have the required knowledge? but they did not really pass the exams,? Roxas said.

?Or the standard was lowered drastically that the [diploma] has no meaning at all,? he said, stressing that paper (diplomas)?handed out after passing elementary, high school or college levels?should ?mean something.?

Roxas said he was not turning a blind eye to the ills besetting the education sector such as lack of textbooks and classrooms.

?We will solve the problems, the question is about what you?re saying that we are failing behind our neighbors. This may be one of the problems why we are falling behind our neighbors because we allow pupils to pass the [tests],? he said.

Roxas said this system was ?unfair to the child? because everyone expected the incoming first year high school student to have mastery of the basic education.

?Are you telling me that because of all these problems, we should lower the standards?? he asked.

Mean average score

Roxas cited the annual report of the National Center for Testing and Research by DepEd on the ?mean percentage score? of grade 6.

?In Math, if you take everybody who is 66 and above?it?s 52 percent, roughly half is 66 and above. But the big bulk of that half is 66 to 85,? he said.

?If you take everybody below that, then that?s 48 percent ? below that. So half of our grade school graduates are below 66,? Roxas added.

In Science, 64 percent of our elementary school graduates did not even get 66 but passed the subject, he noted.

In English, 66 is the passing grade, so one half of the elementary school graduates scored 66 and below in English, but all of them passed and were given diplomas.

?What does these things mean? Why do we conduct the tests?? Roxas asked.