Palace finds it ‘disturbing, alarming’ World Bank report on Filipino students

MANILA, Philippines — A World Bank report stating that most Filipino students “do not know what they should know” in school is “disturbing” and “alarming,” Malacañang said Thursday.

In a press briefing, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque assured that education officials will discuss and find ways to address the issues floated by the World Bank report.

READ: 80% of PH kids don’t know what they should know – World Bank 

“That is very disturbing po and very alarming,” Roque said.

“Pag-aaralan po natin mabuti kung ano yung sinasabi ng report at titignan po natin kung papaano natin mababago ang ating curriculum lalong lalo na sa panahon ng pandemya,” he added.

(We will carefully study what the report says and see what we can change in the curriculum, especially during a pandemic.)

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

This is according to three assessments the Philippines 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.

JPV