Private school students suffered learning loss during pandemic

MANILA, Philippines — Students from private schools nationwide suffered learning loss in science and mathematics due to education disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a study jointly conducted by the University of San Carlos (USC) and Thames International School has revealed.

In its first Philippine Assessment for Learning Loss Solutions (PALLS), the USC and Thames have assessed 3,600 students in Grades 1-12 from 18 private schools nationwide.

The assessment was conducted in the last quarter of last year.

The study showed that the average scores of all students for science and mathematics are 54.1 percent and 47.5 percent, respectively.

The USC and Thames noted that these scores are below 60 percent, which is the passing percentage set by the Department of Education.

The study showed that it was only in English that the average score was passing, at 61.5 percent.

USC School of Education dean Richard Jugar, who presented the results of the PALLS last week, explained that the exams taken by the students were based on the “Most Essential Learning Competencies” on the three subjects – science, mathematics and English.

The students took a total of 75 multiple-choice items for the three core subjects of their previous grade level.

A more detailed analysis by grade level showed that the average scores for all three subjects decrease as the grade level progresses, indicating a more severe effect of the pandemic for those in Grades 4 to 12, according to Jugar.

“The older the student, the lower the result… The magnitude of learning loss is much higher on upper grade levels,” he said.

He added that this could mean that students graduating from senior high school will enter colleges and universities with a high range of learning losses, “thereby increasing their risks of failure in higher education and future board exams.”

The researchers defined the learning loss based on the Glossary of Education Reform as “any specific or general loss of knowledge and skills or to reversals in academic progress, most commonly due to extended gaps or discontinuities in a student’s education.”

“If not addressed collectively, systematically and urgently, learning loss will translate into huge productivity loss and costly economic consequences,” USC president Fr. Narciso Cellan Jr. said in a speech during the release of the PALLS result last Tuesday.

“It is therefore hoped that through this initiative, USC and Thames International will find like-minded individuals and groups who will partner with us in crafting and putting in place intervention programs that will put a stop to learning loss and turn it to a learning boost,” Cellan added.

The PALLS is the first assessment in learning loss in Southeast Asia.