Makati’s Benigno Aquino HS lone public school to make PISA 2022 cut

MANILA, Philippines — Makati City’s Benigno S. Aquino High School was the lone public school in Metro Manila that scored above the minimum proficiency level in the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

Department of Education National Capital Region Director Jocelyn Andaya confirmed the matter during the Senate’s motu proprio hearing on 2022 PISA results on Monday.

“There are 21 schools in Metro Manila that participated [in PISA] and [there’s] only one public [school] that made the cut,” said Andaya.

Andaya told Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who presided over the hearing as chairperson of the chamber’s panel on basic education that the lone school was Benigno Aquino High School.

Andaya further detailed that out of the 21 Metro Manila schools, only six scored above minimum proficiency level.

“One public, five private schools,” said Andaya. She, however, did not name the private institutions.

Later in the hearing, Gatchalian appealed to DepEd and asked the agency to share the list of schools to his office, specifically noting that he wants to “fully understand” what activities these institutions have been doing in order to perform better than the rest.

“We’re requesting DepEd to share with us those [schools] that surpassed level two [and] went above the minimum proficiency level — both public and private,” he said.

“[T]he committee wants to visit these schools and also go deeper into what practices have they employed so that we can help in the preparation of taking the PISA later on,” the senator added.

Vice President and Education Sewcretary Sara Duterte earlier lamented the dismal 2022 PISA results, saying that the country’s poor ranking in the program revealed what she called an “uncomfortable truth” about the Philippine education system.