“Mag-aral kang mabuti. ’Yan lang ang maipamamana namin sa ’yo.”
The line may already sound like a cliché, especially in hard-up families in the Philippines whose parents would do everything to make ends meet and ensure their children will finish a college degree. This is how important education is to us. Or is this so-called importance now another cliché and a thing of the past?
It was horrifying to see the Philippines rank the lowest among 79 countries that participated in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), which evaluated reading comprehension. The results were released in December 2019, mere months before the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic hit.
The comprehension assessment was done among 15-year-old students. The reading average set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which held the Pisa worldwide study, was 487 points. China got 555 points, while the Philippines’ average reading score fell to 340.
OECD noted in the Pisa 2018 results the importance of reading proficiency. It is something we all have to master to perform various activities, from the simplest task like reading directions, to more complicated social tasks like communicating with other people.
What led to the Philippines’ poor ranking in reading comprehension?
A study by De La Salle University’s Dr. Andrew L. Tan Data Science Institute (ALTDSI) said that most of the students who failed the reading comprehension test in Pisa 2018 came from low-income families, and 83 percent of them went to public schools.
Poverty has always been a hindrance to quality education. We have often heard of students prioritizing work to help bring food to their families’ tables rather than focusing on academics. Poverty is not something we can fix easily or change overnight. But can’t we do something to improve our country’s education system to ensure that even children in low-income conditions can get quality services, which can boost their knowledge?
If poverty is here to stay, can’t the country’s education system adjust to the fact and prioritize honing the knowledge of our young learners, regardless of their social status?
The Pisa results opened our eyes that it wasn’t only reading comprehension we must focus on. We also scored poorly (second-lowest) both in science and mathematics. OECD explained on their website that the purpose of the assessment is to allow the policymakers and educators to adjust the education systems in their countries according to the strategies being implemented in countries that scored high on the tests.
It is an eye-opener that I rarely hear our politicians and education officials talking about (at least, not publicly).
Instead, what gets in the news is the Department of Education’s request for confidential funds amounting to millions. Is this the time to allocate funds (from the people’s taxes) to projects that can’t even be named or listed publicly?
The problem with the country’s education system is the lack of a system that is deeply rooted in poverty. Instead of making the funds for the very department that should handle the education structure “confidential,” isn’t it high time that we see exactly where taxpayer money is spent?
One in five Filipinos lives below the poverty line. This is according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). This equates to 19.99 million Filipinos or 18.1 percent of our country’s population. These numbers came from a 2021 PSA survey, which could be worse now.
This brings us back to the Pisa 2018 assessment results. Our low reading comprehension rate came mostly from students with poor socioeconomic backgrounds. Poverty is a problem for the country. It affects everything around us, including the quality of education our young learners get.
Gone were the days when most poor parents would push their kids to study hard, for education is key to getting them out of poverty. Most of us may have gotten used to being poor that we couldn’t care less if our kids can read or comprehend as long as we can provide them with food to eat, which is another daily struggle for many Filipinos who have embraced poverty. It is not because they want to, but they were left with no other choice.
It’s time to change our ways. Open our eyes and seek accountability from those in power. We have to find a long-term solution to poverty. This is the only way we can enforce quality education. This is the only way for us to bring back hope to the socially disadvantaged parents that the most important inheritance they can leave to their children is their diploma.
JOANNA MARRIEL C.
VILLAMOR, Ph.D.,
San Miguel National
High School