CALIFORNIA, USA — The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is a global group responsible for overseeing the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
PISA aims to establish evidence-based international educational standards, and address various social, economic, and environmental challenges. The test assesses the skills and knowledge of approximately 600,000 15-year-old students worldwide in science, reading, and mathematics, emphasizing real-world problem-solving abilities, rather than memorization.
In the 2018 PISA, the Philippines ranked last in reading, and second to the last in science and mathematics, among 79 participating economies.
In the 2022 PISA, although there was some improvement, our country still dismally performed among the 81 participating economies.
Our students’ overall performance remains statistically below the OECD averages in reading, mathematics, and science.
Comparatively, the Top 10 economies with the lowest PISA scores include Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Kosovo, Uzbekistan, Philippines, Morocco, Jordan, El Salvador, Paraguay, and Palestine.
On the other hand, the Top 10 economies with the highest scores are Singapore, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Estonia, Canada, Ireland, and Switzerland.
As an academician confronted with this data, I initially felt embarrassed about the sub-par quality of our public education. As usual, I rationalized to fend off this feeling.
However, rationalizing the students’ performance through factors like the lack of work ethic, parental socio-economic status, teacher quality, and the lack of educational reforms promoting higher-order thinking skills, creativity, and independent learning did not provide a satisfactory solution.
In the face of this dilemma, I questioned what actions we can take. My inclination as an academician led me to consider practical solutions:
Firstly, I propose enhancing the learning environment by providing free breakfast and lunch for public school students that could alleviate socio-economic hurdles, meet their nutritional needs, and allow them to stay an extended period in school.
Secondly, I propose a focused curricular approach for 15-year-olds, emphasizing the application of reading, math, and science skills to real-life challenges to enhance their abilities.
Unlike the expensive after-school programs in educationally competitive countries like Singapore, Japan, South Korea, China, and Taiwan, our alternative is to implement extended two-hour class periods for remedial or enhancement sessions.
While exploring modern teaching templates from economically advanced neighbors in our region is challenging, as it requires drastic curricular and infrastructural changes, a realistic approach involves adopting an experimental method.
Testing this approach with a selected population, and comparing the results in the next PISA could inform a national implementation if a significant statistical change is observed.
Considering these possibilities, I plan to explore this approach with a public school unit in Dumaguete City during my next visit.
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Author’s email: efren.padilla@csueastbay.edu
