Catch-up Fridays

At long last, we are hearing a sensible plan from Vice President Sara Duterte in her capacity as Secretary of Education. Instead of her focus on ROTC and confidential funds, she has launched a program that addresses a big problem in education that is equivalent to a national crisis.

The Education Secretary has launched “Catch-up Friday” that allots one day of the week as a time to help our public school pupils to catch up with their reading skills. Surely this isn’t enough, but it is something better than just promoting pupils to the next grade level without having mastered the basic skill of reading.

If there is one statistic that should horrify everyone, it is what the World Bank (WB) revealed in 2022: we have a learning poverty rate of 91 percent, considered to be one of the highest rates among countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Learning poverty rate refers to the number of 10-year-old pupils who cannot read and understand age-appropriate texts or written materials.

That means Filipino children are growing up unable to read instructions on labels of medicine bottles, or maybe even safety signs in streets, malls, and other public places, or fill-up job application forms and election ballots. Young Filipinos cannot read to save their lives, in other words.

I recall that when the WB published the information in their website, the Department of Finance, possibly on the prodding of DepEd, protested on the grounds that WB should have first communicated the information officially to the government before making it known to the public. In other words, napahiya lang.

But the problem has become too big to sweep under the rug. At least, VP/Sec Sara is honest enough to admit there is a problem and she is finally addressing it. In a recent speech, she also admitted she is not expecting to receive good results from the recent Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international system assessment meant to provide feedback on education quality in which the country has been participating in since 2018.

The Philippines participated in PISA for the first time in 2018, and came in last place among 79 participating countries and economies in reading, and second to last place in science and mathematics. DepEd spokesman Michael Poa said they are not expecting good results from the PISA 2022 evaluations that are due next week.

“To be honest, we’re not expecting good results. So, right now, we’re really focused on learning recovery… to improve students’ skills in reading, mathematics, and science — subjects covered by PISA and other global assessments,” Poa said in an interview with CNN Philippines’ The Source.

One wonders why the previous Education Secretary did nothing to address the PISA 2018 findings. VP/Sec Sara said “Catch-up Friday” will start on Jan. 12, 2024.

“Subukan lang natin. Tingnan natin kung meron tayong makikita na pagbabago after we do it during the term of President Marcos. Six years nating gawin. Habulin natin kung ano ‘yung mga kailangan nating habulin, na kailangang matutunan ng mga bata to improve their reading and writing skills.”

The DepEd has also launched a MATATAG curriculum that seeks to decongest the current K to 12 curriculum by reducing the number of subjects and to focus more on the foundational skills, such as literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills of learners.

That’s the other problem with our educational system. Congressmen and senators have this bad habit of adding subjects to the curriculum which reduces the time needed for learning basic skills. Maybe Congress should be adding funds for the education budget instead?

In 2019, Congress allocated only 3.4 percent of our GDP to education, significantly lower than the UNESCO-recommended benchmark of six percent (World Bank, 2021). This lack of investment directly affects the quality of education. But throwing money in DepEd’s direction is no guarantee they can make things better, given the awful track record of DepEd’s humongous bureaucracy.

A big problem in education is the quality of teachers. Even after enhancing teachers’ salaries and benefits, DepEd has difficulty recruiting qualified teachers, specially for science and mathematics. The good ones choose to work abroad.

So, we are left with many teachers who lack proper training and educational qualifications. An extensive study conducted by the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) in 2018 found that less than half of the teacher applicants passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET). This means a significant proportion of teachers may not possess the required competency to teach their subjects (PBEd, 2018).

While “Catch-up Friday” is a good concept to address the remedial needs of our pupils, how it is implemented is everything. There will likely not be enough teachers to handle remedial classes. Having a full classroom of 40 or more students may not bring about the kind of results badly needed. Students left behind in their learnings often need one-on-one tutorials to really help them catch up.

Honestly, the DepEd cannot accomplish this catch-up mission by itself. This is why VP/Sec Sara will have to humbly appeal to the private sector for help. Vouchers can be issued for private schools to conduct remedial classes and take on the overflow of pupils that shifted to public schools and created a serious lack of classrooms. Besides, private schools scored better on the PISA test.

DepEd can also appeal for volunteer tutors from Rotary Clubs and other civic organizations. Some corporations may also participate by encouraging their employees to volunteer some weekends to help tutor students. This personal contribution to Philippine education is more significant than cleaning up classrooms in a Brigada Eskuela.

There are many things we have to fix in our educational system. VP Sara’s “Catch-up Fridays” is only a first step. It should cover not just reading, but also mathematics as well.

Beyond catching up, we also have to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity among students, not memorization. We need to equip students with the necessary skills and competencies for the challenges they may face in higher education or in the job market.

It is good to note that VP/Sec Sara is starting to wake-up to her real responsibilities as Secretary of Education. Let us help her succeed.

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco.