DepEd Sec. Sonny Angara —Inquirer photo/Niño Jesus Orbeta
MANILA, Philippines — Education Secretary Sonny Angara on Wednesday sought help from various stakeholders in improving the performance of Filipino learners in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in March next year.
This was in relation to the 2022 PISA results, which showed that Filipino students ranked sixth to the last in reading and mathematics and third to last in science among 81 countries.
READ: PH students still among lowest scorers in reading, math, science – Pisa
These results “were about the same” as in 2018, when the Philippines first participated in the assessment.
“I’ve read all the letters, I’ve seen all the pending memorandum on my desks of people, companies, organizations who want to help. In the coming days, months, weeks, we will come together and do what we may have neglected to do in the past,” Angara said in his speech.
READ: DepEd recommends PISA task force members to Marcos
“My immediate goal is to raise the PISA results in March, so please help me. Grades 7, 8, 9, and 10 are about 8 million students that we need to assist,” he continued.
The DepEd chief highlighted that the doors of the agency are always open for those who want to assist the government in improving the education sector.
“The doors of DepEd are open to anyone who wants to help, and these are not a few doors; we’re talking about 47,000 public schools, or 60 thousand schools in total. We’re talking about 200+ school divisions,” he said.
Angara noted that assistance from various stakeholders is crucial, as he recognized the problems faced by students in their education.
“Some of them don’t have computers, some of them don’t eat breakfast, and some of them get tired walking in slippers. These are the things that we have to address,” he said.