DepEd seeks public apology from World Bank after ‘insulting’ report on PH education

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday demanded that the World Bank make a public apology following its report showing poor performance of Filipino students that “insulted” and “shamed” the Philippines.

“Since the country was insulted, was shamed and so on, we expect and look forward to a public apology,” DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones said in an online Palace briefing.

“Lalo na yung ‘di pagsabi sa amin na naglabas sila ng ganoong klase ng datos, na lumang luma na datos (Especially when they released that kind of old data),” she added.

While the World Bank personally apologized to her through a letter, Briones insisted it should be public since it was the country affected by its report.

“Kasi pinadalhan ako ng sulat, personal apology. But hindi naman ako ang natatamaan dito. Ang natatamaan ang bansa,” she said.

(They sent me a letter, a personal apology. But I’m not the one affected here, it’s the country.)

In the World Bank report, poor learning results were observed among students in the country as 80 percent of them fell below minimum levels of proficiency expected.

The report was based on three assessments the country previously joined — the Program for International Student Assessment in 2018, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study in 2019, and the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics also in 2019.

Briones underscored how the World Bank omitted the DepEd’s initiatives to improve the quality of education.

This includes DepEd’s negotiations with the World Bank for a $110-million loan to upskill teachers and a $100-million loan to boost the country’s Alternative Learning System.

EDV